Trainer and the Princess 4: Adventures in Hoenn
by black angel 2011
Summary: A secret that has been hidden from Salvia could end up drastically changing her for the worst. The nightmare saga commences in chapter 8, it will be up to Ash and Madeline along with all their friends to save the princess from her own darkness, read and find out what happens, will Salvia erase everything that hurts her or will Ash find away to save her. AshXSalvia
1. Troubles Arrival

**Adventures in Hoenn.**

**Episode 63: Troubles Arrival.**

_This is the beginning of the next part of Ash's, Salvia's and Madeline's journey. Also take the chance to see how this story evolved and look at the previous 3 sagas, after this one there is one left, then I will follow up with a separate story and an alternate chapter series filled with random chapters with alternate versions_

_**Summary: **__With the events of Unova behind them, it is now back to the adventure for Ash and Salvia, now with their foster-daughter Madeline it is up to the trio to face their next challenge, the powerful royal family of Hoenn, will Ash and Salvia be able to unify the regions or will an entirely new conflict open up? This time with even more on the line, and will Ash be able to take on the four pin master? to edge closer to the Master's League in the Sinnoh Region._

_**Disclaimer: **__pokemon isn't mine; I don't make money from these stories._

* * *

_(3 days after arrival)_

"Ah Prince Brandon, it is so nice to see you my lord," the professor with a short brown beard, wearing a brown pair of shorts, red shirt and a white lab coat, "what brings you here?" the professor asked the prince.

"I am here to see an old friend, it has been a while since I have seen Princess Salvia," Brendan replied with a generous smirk, he walked into the lab to see the bluenette standing next a strange man with spiky black hair wearing a royal suit, 'who is he?' Brendon thought while watching Ash and Salvia talking to one another, he looked over to a small girl wearing a pink dress with her black hair tied up, 'seems like these two are close to my cousin,' Brendan thought while getting ready to approach the trio.

_(Flashback)_

"I need you to make them trust you, at least pretend to become friends, then once they lower their guard, destroy both of them," Chris instructed the boy with a dark smirk, he looked over to Delia who continued to watch with a blank expression, "also, I want you to bring the princess to me alive, but be careful the trainer she is with is an extremely powerful trainer, he commands two powerful legendary pokemon," Chris stated.

"So, our plan is simple, lure them into a false sense of security, then bring them down," Brendan replied with a cynical grin.

"Remember son, we need Salvia alive to lure the last of her family out, but be wary of the brother Alex and Colin, they will do everything to prevent you from succeeding," the Queen of Hoenn explained with a smile.

As Brendan walked out of the palace Chris looked over to the queen and started to think, "so, do you think Brandon will succeed? Or do you plan on using your own son to defeat your sister?" Chris asked the woman who turned her attention to him with a nod.

"Of cause, Brendan, isn't even worthy of the title king, we have only just begun the plans to change the world, the war in Unova was just the beginning, very soon the weight of the entire Hoenn kingdom's army will come crashing down on the Sinnoh Kingdom," the queen explained with a dark grin as she sliced the map of Sinnoh in half with her dagger, "what of that woman?" the hoenn royal asked with a sneer at the brunette.

"Her usefulness is almost over, but that trainer will suffer some more," Chris decreed while walking towards the door with Delia behind him, he gazed over his shoulder and grudgingly looked towards the queen, 'you are a fool if you think I would hand everything to you, keep scheming you pathetic woman, for I will strike very soon,' Chris thought while walking out towards the palace gate, "these people are morons, only my ambitions count, I will destroy all royal families, the war in Unova was just the beginning," Chris whispered while Delia quietly walked with Chris.

_(Return from Flashback)_

Brendan approached the trio quietly with a fake smile, "Salvia, it has been awhile my friend," Brendan stated with a smile.

"Prince Brendan," Salvia replied with excitement.

Ash and Madeline glared at the young prince feeling like that something was amiss, "nice to you Prince Brendan," the prince of Sinnoh approached the Hoenn royal, he extended his hand out still feeling a little uneasy with his appearance.

"Just call me Brendan Prince Ash," Brandon replied causing the trainer to notice that something was amiss; the Hoenn royal shook his hand while Ash continued to glare at him.

"Call me Ash," the raven haired man replied calmly, he closed his eyes and started to sense the aura around the teen, 'something isn't right, how he knew I married Salvia? And how did he know we were here?' Ash wondered while not taking his eye off of the young man.

"I see that you are uneasy about me, can't blame you, I was the one in line to marry your wife," Brendan stated with a nervous grin.

'I don't trust him, it's far to convenient that he know we're here,' Madeline thought while her Tepig growled at the Hoenn native, "I know Tepig it's convenient that he knows where we were," Madeline whispered to her starter pokemon, the fire type forced flames out of its nose while glaring at the prince, Madline tugged at Ash's sleeve causing him to kneel next to her, "dad, something isn't right," Madeline whispered in his ear.

"I know Madeline, I want to know how he found out we were here," Ash replied quietly.

"Brendan, remember when we hid from our parents and they found us in the playground?" Salvia asked her friend with a clueless smile, she looked back to see Ash and Madeline who weren't amused by the appearance of the young royal.

Brendan started to chuckle as the older teen walked back to her husband and grasped her arm, "it seems my cousin is really happy," Brendan mistakenly stated before starting to laugh.

Salvia stopped laughing and tilted her head, "Brendan, you're acting weird, what's going on?" Salvia asked her friend.

"Opps sorry I was thinking of someone else," Brendan defended himself while waving his hands in front of his face.

"Right that's enough, what's going on Brendan?!" Ash demanded in anger while getting between his wife and the prince of Hoenn.

"Ash, Brendan and I are friends," Salvia replied while taking his left arm.

Ash looked back to see Salvia look at him with concern, "I know, but I have a bad feeling about this one," Ash retorted quietly, he turned his attention to the prince, "you want to know something, I am an aura guardian, so I can sense the type of aura you have," Ash remarked with a determined expression.

'An Aura Guardian, I thought they all died out two hundred years ago,' the Hoenn Prince thought while stepping back from the aura guardian, he looked over to the prince and started to wonder if it was true, not noticing Salvia and Madeline next to him who were still standing in Professor Birch's lab, "well I have a task to deal with, so maybe we can be friends," Brendan stated before turning around to leave the lab.

Ash watched him leave while Madeline prepared her Tepig to attack him, "Madeline, not now, I feel as uneasy as you do," Ash told his foster-daughter while trying to keep his cool, 'just what is he after, I know he was meant to marry Salvia, but he knows he lost out, and what did he mean by cousin?' Ash thought while looking over to Salvia who was waving at the younger teen.

"Ash, that wasn't very nice of you," Salvia remarked with a serious expression.

"I know, but I don't trust him, something isn't right, it was far too convenient, that he knew we were here," Ash replied with a frown.

"Yeah, Ash is right, I don't trust him and neither does Tepig and Raichu," Madeline remarked while clenching her fists. The two pokemon also watching the prince leaving ready to attack him, "how did he know we were here in the first place?" Madeline asked in anger.

"Because he got his starter pokemon from Professor Birch, I was also meant to get my starter here as well, but with the danger my uncle presented he stopped it immediately," Salvia replied as she noticed the stern expressions of the two people in front of her, 'or right, I forgot Ash is an aura guardian,' Salvia remembered while thinking back at the war in the Unova region, remembering the time Ash saved her with his aura abilities.

Ash calmly walked towards the entrance of the pokemon lab, leaving Salvia and Madeline behind, he looked back keeping his eyes on the bluenette, "I am serious Salvia, something isn't right about Brendan, I know you've known him for a long time, but something just doesn't fit," Ash told the princess while seeing the Hoenn royal talking to the professor .

Salvia watched as her husband walked out of the lab wondering what he was going to do next, "he has been my friend for so long, he would never do something that would make me think otherwise," Salvia whispered while her foster-daughter walked up to Ash who was nearing the exit of the lab, "Madeline, you agree with Ash?" Salvia asked with uncertainty.

"Yes mom, I know there is something not right about him, Ash can be a complete idiot at times, but I know when he is right about things," the black haired girl replied, she walked towards her adoptive father with the two pokemon leaving Salvia to think more about why the two closest to her weren't too fond of Brandon, "if it was just Ash, I would think that he was jealous, but Madeline too?" Salvia whispered as she spotted a brown and cream egg on the desk. The princess walked over to the wooden table and looked at the egg, 'so this is mine, thank you Professor Oak,' Salvia thought as she picked up the casing which was holding the item.

"Alright Brendan, what is you intentions, there is no way you would have known Salvia was here unless someone told you," Ash said while Madeline nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he is right, there is no way you would have found us unless someone told you," Madeline reiterated while the two pokemon glared at the teen royal.

Salvia stepped in between the two people ganging up on the Hoenn royal and scowled at the two berating him, "alright you two that's enough, Brendan is my friend," Salvia commented while stretching her arms out to defend the prince, "I don't know what issue you both have, but it needs to be settled right now."

'So my older cousin comes to my defence this mission will be much easier than expected, even if she has the protection of the only Aura Guardian, he wouldn't be able to change my cousins ignorance,' Brendan thought while watching Salvia yelling at Ash and Madeline, 'but if the aura guardian keeps this up, things might get more difficult, I must eliminate him as soon as possible,' Brendan told himself while he turned around to think about what his next plan was going to be, 'maybe it would be best if I tried to separate these two, but then again that nosy little girl would get in my way.'

"Salvia, his aura doesn't feel right, sure he has been your friend for some time, but it doesn't mean he can be trusted," Ash argued while his wife shook her head. Ash walked a head knowing that if he didn't think of something there could be more trouble.

'Master Ash, I agree with you, I can sense he has a goal in mind, he might try to break you two apart,' Reshiram's voice echoed in the prince's mind.

Ash closed his eyes to see the legendary in his mind, 'I know Reshiram, but how do I get Salvia to understand that, sure we know one another better than we could imagine, but I still cannot see how we can trust him,' Ash replied, sitting down in front of the legendary pokemon, 'yet Salvia trusts him, Is there something we don't know?' Ash wondered while Reshiram growled at the image of Bredon.

'No, there is a truth that even the princess doesn't know, but I will figure it out, but I think we might have received a clue a little while ago,' Reshiram told the prince calmly as it disappeared from the trainer's mind.

Ash closed his eyes and started to think, 'oh right he blurted out something about Salvia being his cousin, if that's true then Salvia also has extended family she doesn't know about,' Ash replied while remembering the meeting with Brendan.

Ash opened his eyes to see Salvia standing next to him, "Ash, you were talking to Reshiram," Salvia told the trainer while trying to keep her composure.

"Yes I am, it also has a bad feeling," Ash retorted while walking away with Madeline.

'I don't know why, but Ash and Madeline don't like Brendan,' Salvia thought while watching Ash and Madeline talking to Professor Birch , she grasped the egg while thinking about the other challenges that she will face, "in nine months Ash and I will have our first baby, so I don't know what to think right now," Salvia reminded herself while someone from the distance was listening in on her words.

"What no way, she is pregnant at this stage, our plans might be more difficult than expected, I will need to make sure this doesn't succeed," the Hoenn teen royal stated while two of his guards watched from the distance, he growled at the fact that his families plans might be ruined, "you report the situation to my mother, I will try to gain their trust," Brendan ordered the royal guards while keeping his eye on the trio who were getting ready to leave.

Brendan walked out from the bushes and down the road to meet up with Ash, Salvia and Madeline, the two pokemon growled at the teen again, ready to attack him, 'even the pokemon don't like him,' Ash thought to himself, he closed his eyes to sense the aura around the royal, 'he is definitely hiding something,' Ash thought while reopening his eyes.

"Ash, can you not, use your abilities on my friend?" Salvia requested with displeasure.

Ash shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "I am sorry Salvia, but I want to know what he is up to, I don't want to be caught off guard, you're my wife and the bearer of my child, I refuse to have you or my unborn child in any danger," Ash replied while leaving Salvia in disbelief.

Salvia looked away knowing that Ash was very serious, she looked away as Madeline glared at the prince of Hoenn, "come Tepig let's beat the crap out of him," Madeline decreed while her starter pokemon prepared to attack the teen with flames coming from his nose.

"Madeline no, why would you tell you pokemon such things?" Salvia asked the little girl with shock.

Madeline turned her attention to Salvia, "because I don't like mom, if he sticks around, he will only present danger, even my Tepig knows it too and dad as well," Madeline replied while glaring at the royal.

"Come on guys, I am here to be a friend, I am not sure how I can make you trust me, but I am not going to cause any problem," Brendan retorted with an uneasy smile, he quickly dodged a powerful fire attack coming from the fire pig pokemon, 'oh man, she really doesn't like me,' Brendan thought while breathing a sigh of relief, he smiled at the girl who continued to stare at him with great displeasure. "So Ash, you are competing in the Master Challenge right, maybe there is someone in Petalburg City," Brendan suggested with a nervous grin.

"How do you know about the Master's Challenge?" Ash asked the younger teen with a nasty glare.

Brendan waved his hands in front of his face and started to chuckle, "um, I found out because of a letter that I turned down," Brendan lied.

"You're lying, someone told you about the Master's Challenge," Ash snapped back.

'He is very perceptive,' Brendan silently told himself while turning around, "come on I haven't travelled the Hoenn region for some time now," Brendan stated as he walked ahead of the trio.

'Ash caught Brendan lying, not even I caught him out until he told me,' Salvia thought while staring at her husband for a moment.

"As I said Salvia, I will not let anyone place you in danger, even Brendan," Ash stated as calmly as possible, he walked a head with his fist clenched unsure of what to think anymore, "I don't want you to worry for now, but if he puts you in danger, I will hurt him…..badly," Ash remarked coldly as he followed the Hoenn royal.

The Sinnoh Princess slowly followed her husband with the pokemon egg in hand, "come on Madeline, we need to get a move, Ash wouldn't want us to fall behind," Salvia commented while trying to keep her composure.

Madeline walked ahead with her fire pokemon, "yeah, right," Madeline retorted while Tepig and Raichu walked next to the girl, she followed behind the three older people not taking her eye of the Hoenn prince, 'one wrong move and I will have Tepig turn you into a pile of ashes,' Madeline threatened the teen while not focusing on the surroundings.

"You know a few days ago, I met Alex, he is looking for you, making sure that you aren't in too much trouble," Brendan stated while Ash turned his attention to his Hoenn counterpart.

Ash turned his attention to Brendan and pulled out his pokeball, "alright that's it, I have heard enough, first you seem to know that we are in the Hoenn region and the town we're in, you know about the Master's Challenge and now you know about Alex," Ash commented while preparing to battle.

"Ash, stop he isn't here to cause trouble," Salvia grabbed Ash's arm.

"How do you know what Alex is up to?" Ash asked the prince while calming down from Salvia's influence, "one wrong move and I will have Reshiram turn you into ashes," Ash hissed while walking ahead.

Brendan started to shake in fear knowing that Ash wasn't lying, he looked back to his friend and then to Madeline who looked away from him, "did I say something wrong?" Brendan asked trying to be clueless about Ash's discomfort to him.

Salvia shook her head trying to figure out what was going on, 'why doesn't Ash trust him, usually I can understand what he is thinking, but this time, I am not sure,' Salvia wondered as she started to get worried about the situation that was unfolding, the princess turned her attention to Madeline who continued to glare at the teen prince, 'but then there is Madeline, she doesn't like Brendan one bit, is there something they can sense that I cannot?' Salvia wondered while looking around to see the trainer walking towards the tree line road, small black and grey pokemon wondering through the grass while Ash ignored it.

'This could get bad, he claims to have a legendary pokemon, and a very powerful one,' Brendan thought to himself while looking back towards the princess, 'luckily she can keep him in check, then there is that little girl,' Brendan turned his attention to Ash and Salvia foster-daughter. He knew that the plan wasn't going to be as easy as it could the trees swayed in the gentle breeze.

Meanwhile near Lilycove City Chris was walking around with Delia still in his trance, "time to have a little fun, Brendan is a fool if he thinks he has any part of this plan, his demise would benefit me, I can kill two Pidgys with one stone," he decreed while looking around to see the people walking around freely oblivious to what was going on around them, as Chris was walking around he was approached by two royal guards, "report everything that you have found out," Chris requested as the guards knelt in front of him.

"Sir, as expect Ash and Salvia have met up with Brendan, they are walking towards Oldale Town, but there seems to be a problem," one of the guards stated with a serious expression.

"Prince Ash and the little girl don't seem to trust Brendan," the other guard reported with a less than confident expression.

Chris looked over to Delia who remained on the spot, "it doesn't matter, Brendan is a pawn in this game, once the last few members of Team Plasma and Team Rocket come to the region," Chris stated with a smirk as the guards looked at him with shock.

The men dressed in red and blue uniform stood up unable to believe what was told to them, "but sir, weren't Team Rocket and Team Plasma destroyed in Unova?" the guard asked with disbelief.

"So everybody thought, when I take this region, I will then start my war that would make the war in Unova a small skirmish," Chris stated while walking towards the exit of the major city, 'I will raze everything to the ground and build an empire that will last me a thousand years,' Chris thought to himself while the guards watched the sinister man leaving them to ponder what his next actions were, they watched as the brunette followed him still in a trance, 'but first her usefulness is nearing an end,' Chris thought as he looked over to the mother of Ash.

At the port of Lilycove City a man wearing a suit walked off the ship, "so this is Lilycove City, it seems like the Shadow Triad were useful after all, but that doesn't mean that our ambitions are at an end, Jessie, James and Meowth, search this region," Giovanni stated with a smirk.

"Sir what are we searching for?" the Rocket Elite asked their boss in unison.

"Princess Salvia, she needs to be capture her, she is the key to our new plan, to create an empire that will make Team Rocket masters of the world," Giovanni retorted calmly, the rocket trio saluted and leapt off to start their mission, "thanks Chris, you are a fool to allow the remaining members of Team Rocket to survive, now you will pay for your mistake," Giovanni stated while looking over his shoulder to see another ship arrive, 'so he allowed for Ghetsis to live,' Giovanni thought as the ship docked next to his.

Meanwhile on a grassy hill overlooking the city Alex was watching the scene unfold in front of him, "not good, the remaining members of Team Rocket and Team Plasma survived, I guess this fight is far from over," Alex addressed the problem while turning around to find Chris and Delia walking away from the city, "then there is Chris, it seems as though he has been planning everything carefully, his next move will be an interesting one, and I am willing to bet that he is planning on using Lady Delia for this plan," Alex acknowledged while riding off on his fiery horse, "Colin, my brother hurry up, the princess and the prince need our help," Alex hoped as he rode off into the distance on his Rapidash.

Nearing Oldale Town, Ash, Salvia, Madeline and Brendan were entering the small town, the few houses that were surrounded by the many trees with the Tailow and Swellow flying across the small town, "it's been a while since I was here last, I remember when I first came here, with my new friend May," Ash explained while thinking about his actions from moments prior to him entering the tiny town, 'I still don't trust him, but so far he hasn't done anything,' Ash thought while Salvia stood next to him, "I will find out why I don't trust, until then I will keep an eye on him," Ash whispered to his young wife.

"So far you behaved yourself, but one slip up and I will make sure Tepig and Raichu don't hold back," Madeline whispered to the older male with a smirk.

"The best way to capture Salvia is to separate them, but I don't think Ash will allow for it and neither will Madeline," Brendan told himself while, 'but I get the feeling that there is something amiss,' Brendan thought while looking back towards the road the headed back towards Twinleaf Town, 'I left my past behind, but now I feel as though I am making a mistake,' Brendan thought while watching his cousin walking a head holding Ash's hand.

"Brendan hurry up, Ash wants to face the next Pin Master," the princess called over to Brendan.

"For too long our families have kept this secret from her, yet if I betray my family it could mean that I lose my right to the throne and getting exiled, no I must fulfil my mother's mission," Brendan reminded himself. He clenched his fists and walked up to the trio, "well I have a few things I need to sort, so I will leave you three to your journey," Brendan said before walking north towards the other end of the town.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" Salvia requested with a frown. "You don't trust Brendan right?" Salvia questioned her husband.

"I have already said this, there is something not right about him, he is hiding something, I can sense his aura," Ash retorted while watching the younger teen walking away, his eyes started to glow blue allowing him to see the aura surrounding the teen, 'I can sense he is conflicted, but why?' Ash wondered before looking back to see Salvia angrily placing her hands on her hips, "yes I used my aura guardian ability to further sense his aura," Ash confessed with a smile.

"Way to go, so can we hurt him?" Madeline asked while pumping her fist into the air.

Ash shook his head much to the shock of Madeline and Salvia, "I can sense he is conflicted, but for now, we need to keep our guard up, I have a feeling that there is some serious trouble heading our way," Ash commented while looking towards the western road, "we rest at the Pokemon Center tonight," Ash dictated while Salvia walked up to Ash, "no, you need your rest, I cannot have you being exhausted," Ash remarked with great care.

"I will be fine Ash," Salvia pleaded but Ash didn't budge from his stance, "alright, we will rest, but can you stay close to me, if what you say proves true, then I want you with me tonight," Salvia stated while walking into the red roofed building with Ash and Madeline following close behind.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of the Hoenn saga, I am starting to build some things up, but I want to put more on the line in this saga.**

**Next time: Episode 64: Clash in Petalburg.**


	2. Clash in Petalburg

**Episode 64: Clash in Petalburg.**

_Let's get into the swing of thing, the last chapter felt a little slow, but now it's time to really pick up the pace._

_Dawn: 18_

_May: 18_

_Drew: 19_

_Max: 15_

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After a couple of days resting Ash, Salvia and Madeline prepared to leave the small town towards the next city. Spending a couple of days giving Madeline some pointers in battling and capturing pokemon, even though Madeline didn't capture a pokemon she was still feeling proud of her advancements in pokemon training, her Tepig feeling like it could take on any pokemon after the training Ash and Salvia gave it, "so where are we heading?" Madeline asked with a confident grin.

Ash pulled out a map and started to look towards the western parts of the region, "we will be heading towards my friends home town," Ash retorted with a smirk, he knew it had been a few months since he saw May, he had hoped that she and her brother had gotten stronger since he last saw them, he flashed back to the days of him and May traveling through the Hoenn region and the Kanto region, "it has been a few years since we travelled together," Ash reminisced with a smile.

"So you travelled with another girl and Sir Brock?" Salvia questioned curiously.

Ash nodded and then smirked, "then there was her know it all brother, right now he should be finishing his first journey," Ash replied, he placed his right hand on his chin and started to remember the fights May and Max got into.

"So Ash, how many people have you travelled with?" Madeline asked.

Ash looked up and started to count the people he had travelled with, "let's see, there is Misty, Brock, May, Dawn, Max, Iris, Cilan and then there is Tracey," Ash counted on his hands while thinking about the other people that tagged along for the journey, "oh how could I forget, there is you, the princess….." Ash stated before being hit on the back of the head, "I mean Salvia," Ash replied to the smack across the back of the head, he looked back to a satisfied bluenette.

"Much better, I never want you to refer to me by my title," Salvia commented cheekily.

Ash grinned broadly as he started to think about what the next title in line was, "well rightfully, you're no longer a princess, isn't that right Queen Salvia?" Ash teased the Sinnoh Royal before having his right foot stomped on by her, "okay I take it you don't like that either," Ash submitted while hopping on his foot trying to supress the pain that was coursing through his body.

"Call me that one more time, I will divorce you," Salvia threatened Ash who looked over to her with a playful grin.

Ash crossed his arms and continued to smugly smile at her, "I don't think you would go through with it, since really you are pregnant with my child after all," Ash returned his young wife's ultimatum. "Can you think a little Ash Ketchum," Ash started to laugh while picturing Salvia and him holding the child in their arms.

Salvia scoffed at the idea and wondered what it would be like to have a little girl, "well I have already picked a name for a girl," Salvia replied while noticing Ash's expression, "I was thinking of choosing my friend's name Dawn, I think she would like that," Salvia replied to Ash's thought.

"But I get to choose the boy's name right?" Ash asked hopefully as he crossed his fingers in hope.

"I might," Salvia replied with a cheeky grin, "but I know that your imagination isn't all that great," Salvia replied blissfully as the trainer dropped his head in disbelief.

"Can we continue, I am getting a little tired of some of the stuff you two are talking about," Madeline stated while Tepig jumped out of the girls arms, the fire type sent a sudden burst of flames towards the arguing couple, "thank you Tepig," Madeline thankfully told her pokemon.

"Alright we will settle this later," Ash remarked quickly while his Raichu breathed a sigh of relief.

Salvia crossed her arms knowing that Ash was still not too happy about something. The trio continued quietly towards the first major city of the region not saying a word to each other, it was then that Salvia broke her silence, "Ash, I will let you name the boy, just please don't stay angry at me," Salvia told the prince with a hopeful smile.

Ash looked back and smirked at his wife, "I am not angry at you, just concerned about something," Ash retorted with a worried expression.

"What do you mean Ash?" Salvia asked in a puzzled manner.

Ash looked towards the east and thought about Brendan, "it's your friend, he was acting weird when we met, and his departure was just as weird," Ash explained to the bluenette.

Salvia walked ahead feeling like Ash still didn't know what he was talking about, she kept thinking that Brendan wasn't a bad person, she continued to cling to her memories of her and her friend, "Ash, I know you don't trust him, but he and I are friends," Salvia continued to defend the Hoenn prince much to Ash and Madeline's disappointment.

"I know you and him are friends, even Reshiram knows that there is something not right," Ash replied seriously.

The trio walked into the city to find a green haired man with his brunette girlfriend, "so May, what are we going to do tonight?" Drew asked before looking up to see Ash and Salvia walking into the city, he watched the red clad brown hair girl running over to Ash with great excitement, 'geez I wish she was that excited when she goes on a date with me,' Drew thought with a slight amount of disappointment.

'Who the hell is this girl?' Madeline wondered while seeing the woman hugging Ash, 'why that little bitch,' Madeline angrily clenched her fists. But was relieved that Ash didn't return the embrace from the brunette, 'good, I don't want Ash to be with anyone other than Salvia.'

"It has been a while Ash, how are things going?" May asked with a smile as she stepped back, from Ash.

Drew walked over to Ash and extended his hand, "sorry about that Ash, May seems to be happy to see her friend for the first time in nearly a year," Drew commented while May walked towards Salvia, Ash shook the coordinators hand , "so what has been happening lately, May and I have been really busy planning our next journey to the Kalos region," Drew commented with a proud smile while pulling out a brochure from his pocket.

"Really? Wow Salvia, Madeline and me will be heading there after I finish the Master's challenge," Ash returned with a smile.

"Really, so I get a new rival?" May asked in hope as she turned her attention to Salvia.

Salvia stepped back with a nervous smile from the excited girl. "Not quite May, I will in fact be rival with Ash," Salvia replied with a grin.

May looked to the ground with disappointment knowing that Salvia was going to challenge Ash and not her, "oh man, now feel jealous that Ash will be rivalling with a coordinator and not me instead," May retorted with a frown.

"Oh come on May, we will watch the contests, you have our word, right Madelie and Salvia?" Ash asked the girls with a confident smile, the girls nodded making May happier, she jumped up for joy and yelled out after hearing the promise from Ash and confirmation from Ash's wife and foster-daughter, "plus, it would teach Madeline some new things as well," Ash remarked with a smile.

"I have an idea, how about you take on my brother Salvia, he has just recently taken over the gym," May suggested with a confident smile.

"Really Max is now the gym leader? I remember when he tried to trick me," Ash replied with enthusiasm. The rest of the group remained silent while Ash looked away to cover his embarrassment, "right now Salvia has an appointment with a doctor, so we will need to head their first," Ash remarked while Drew and May looked at the royal couple with curiosity.

"Why? She seems perfectly healthy to me," May enquired with a puzzled look.

Salvia gulped for a moment, she knew that the news would be difficult for them to take, she took Ash's hand and smiled at the trainer, "because I am expecting a baby later in the year," Salvia confessed with immense pride, much to the astonishment of the couple standing in front of her she continued to show joy at what was happening.

"No way, dude that's crazy," Drew and May replied in shock as they tried to gather the words but were far too excited to say anymore, the Hoenn couple looked at one another still trying to say something.

"I bet Dawn would be amazed to hear this news, she still hasn't taken the loss of Paul so well," May remarked with a sigh, "Drew and I have been trying everything to cheer her up, at the moment she is stuck at my place still figuring out what to do next," May explained with sadness.

"Well before we head to the doctors, we should visit," Salvia stated with certainty.

After walking towards the Maple residence Ash and Salvia entered the house with Madeline walking in front of them, "wow, this house is big, but it wasn't nearly as big as my family Mansion in Mossdeep City," Madeline boasted while looking around to see the lounge room and then the stairway towards the rooms of the house, she walked around some more to find the kitchen, "hey Ash I found your favourite part of the house!" Madeline called over to Ash with a playful smile.

"Is it the Kitchen Madeline?" Salvia asked equally as playful as Madeline.

Ash turned his attention to May and Drew, "so where is Dawn?" Ash asked quietly.

May pointed towards the stairs with a solemn expression, "she is in my old room, but be sure to knock alright," May instructed Ash before he walked towards the stairway.

Ash walked up the stairway while remembering the people who had lost their lives in the war, his friends, family and even strangers, even the pokemon were in his thoughts, he didn't even wish his friends the best of luck, he wanted one more battle against Paul, but sadly he will never get that chance. Ash continued down the hall and towards his friend's old room, approaching the door hearing Dawn talking to herself about her regrets, Ash slowly moved his right hand towards the door and knocked on it.

Dawn walked towards the door while wondering who it was, "I don't want to talk to anyone!" Dawn yelled out.

"Come on Dawn, even to a person you consider your brother?" Ash questioned her calmly.

"Ash?" Dawn asked before opening the door.

Ash walked into the room where Dawn was staying, Ash looked at the bluenette whose hair was a mess and was wearing a pink dress, "you have really let yourself go Dawn, you had pride in your appearance," Ash commented honestly while Dawn walked up to Ash and started to cry, "Dawn, I know I lost my rival as well," Ash told the young woman with a frown before hugging her, 'I hope Salvia doesn't misunderstand this time around,' Ash thought while hearing footsteps outside the room, 'oh shit, Madeline,' Ash thought as he looked up to see the girl peering into the room.

"Thanks for being like a brother Ash, I will do what I can to tidy myself up a bit," Dawn commented silently.

Ash walked out of the room only to be greeted by the black haired girl, "so Dawn is like your sister?" Madeline enquired while Ash nodded, he closed the door to allow for Dawn to have some privacy, Ash walked towards the stairs and down to meet up with the rest of the group.

Ash walked into the kitchen where May, Drew and Salvia were sitting at the table, "So did you get a word from Dawn?" Salvia asked with concern.

"Not until she tidies up a bit," Ash replied before taking a seat next to Salvia. Ash sipped the cup of tea while his two friends looked at him strangely, "what is it May and Drew?" Ash asked, his face blushing slightly.

"That is the first time I have seen you wear something fashionable," May retorted while staring at Ash's suit.

"Um this, Salvia forced me to wear it," Ash joked before feeling Salvia's elbow crashing into his ribs, "alright, she didn't force me to wear it," Ash replied to Salvia's reply.

The group continued to have their converstation while waiting for Dawn to come from room, it was then Ash sensed the aura of Brendan from outside but this time he had three powerful pokemon by his side. The prince got to his feet and rushed to the door, "Ash what are you doing?" May asked before watching Salvia running behind, 'he must be using his aura abilities,' May thought as she remembered the time Ash tried to rescue Pikachu with the help of Lucario.

Ash opened the door to see Brendan standing on the front lawn of the Maple residence, he smirked at Ash, as three pokemon stood around him, one brown golem made of rocks with six red dots in the form of an 'H', the next one was a rounded steel type pokemon with seven dots in the shape of a hexagon and the last was a pokemon made of pure ice, cones for legs and seven dots in the shape of a '+.' Brendan continued to stare at Ash with a menacing smile, "so Ash, it is time to eliminate you, Regirock attack with Stone Edge," Brendan instructed the rock peak pokemon with confidence.

Ash quickly pulled out his pokemon and called for his blue and black pokemon, "Lucario attack with Aura Spere," Ash quickly instructed his pokemon. The aura pokemon quickly formed a ball of aura and threw it towards the incoming attack, the remaining stones slammed into May's home destroying the patio, 'his attack was meant to be fatal,' Ash noted to himself, he kept his eyes on the other two pokemon and pulled out another two pokeballs ready to face off against the three legendries, "Darkrai, Reshiram, I choose you," Ash called for his mostly white dragon pokemon and a black hourglass shaped pokemon with a piercing blue eye.

'Amazing, he has two powerful legendary pokemon,' Brendan thought with amazement.

"How did you know we were here?" Ash asked while his three pokemon prepared to attack the three golems.

Brendan started laughing at the Sinnoh prince, he clicked his fingers allowing the three pokemon to attack simultaneously, Ash nodded at his pokemon and attacked to defend themselves, 'he can also order his pokemon to attack without saying a command,' Brendan thought to himself before seeing Salvia witnessing the battle, "about time," Brendan stated with a smirk.

"What's the meaning of this Brendan?" Salvia asked with shock, she couldn't quite express the scene she was looking at the power of the attacks destroying the building around the battle.

"From now on, we are no longer friends," Brendan decreed while Salvia gasped at the revelation, Brendan started laughing at the older teen, "we are enemies."

Ash scoffed at the younger royal as his three pokemon pushed the three Regis back, "so you followed us to Petalburg, also you have hurt Salvia, now I will not back," Ash angrily declared while his legendary pokemon got ready to attack again.

"In fact I am here to tell you something, Ash surrender Salvia now or you might not see your child's birth," Brendan ordered with supreme confidence.

Ash glared at the Hoenn prince and shook his head, "I would rather die than let a worm like you take my wife," Ash replied with his fists clenched in rage, "Lucario attack with Aura Sphere, Darkrai attack with Dark Pulse and Reshiram attack with Dragon Pulse," Ash instructed the three pokemon with vigour. The trainer's three pokemon powered up their attacks while Brendan called for his pokemon to use Super Power.

Meanwhile in the distance a Hoenn guard was watching the battle between the six pokemon, "excellent, Master Chris's plan is going well, with those two battling and the weakening of Princess Salvias resolve, everything will fall into place," the man stated while some rocks flew towards the buildings

"You want to know something Salvia is too soft to lead her kingdom, even the death of her father still affects her," Brendan taunted the woman with a smirk.

"Shut up, Salvia is strong, she trusted you because she thought you were her friend!" Ash yelled out in a furious rage, he tightened his fists, he scowled at his new enemy while Salvia fell to her knees after hearing that some that she thought was her friend was now her enemy, "Salvia, focus I refuse to let this guy get to you," Ash tried to assure the princess.

At that time Dawn walked out to see five legendary pokemon and Ash's Lucario battling it out, Brendan looked over in shock, "no way there are two princess's?" Brendan asked, he rubbed his eyes to see Dawn kneeling next to Salvia.

"Wrong, one of them is the princess the other is one that I would consider my sister," Ash replied with determination, he closed his eyes to refocus his aura abilities, "now Brendan, where is Chris?" Ash asked causing the teen to step back in shock.

"Wait how did you know my family aligned themselves with Chris?" Brendan asked while beginning to falter, "no I refuse to let this get to me, Zap Cannon all of you," the Hoenn prince demanded for an attack from each of his legendary pokemon, the three pokemon formed balls of electricity and sent them towards the three pokemon of Ash.

"You know that Zap Cannon isn't that accurate," Ash proclaimed at the panicking prince, but noticed a smirk on the royal's face, "no you wouldn't, bad question," Ash hissed in frustration, "alright attack with the previous attacks," Ash told his pokemon, they formed the previous attacks, the tree attacks intercepted the three Zap Cannons causing powerful explosions that pushed trees to the ground and windows to shatter, Ash rushed to his wife to protect her from the falling debris, "are you alright?" Ash smiled.

"I am fine Ash, thanks to you and Dawn," Salvia replied with sadness.

Ash looked over his shoulder to see that the three legendries and Brendan were gone, he recalled his pokemon and turned his focus back to the Sinnoh princess, "he was only playing mind games, if he wanted to, he could have easily captured Salvia," Ash reminded himself while looking over to see his friends and foster-daughter standing at what was the entrance to the house.

"What happened here?" a male voice asked in anger, a young teen with short blue hair, a green shirt, brown shorts and large frame glasses, he pushed up his glasses slightly and looked around to see the devastation of his family home, he looked around to see the surrounding area in a state of disrepair, "this is just great, my dad will be really upset after he returns from his holiday with mom in the Kalos region," Max stated with a frown.

Salvia sat on the ground trying to figure out what was going on, mixed emotions ran through her mind, but most of all she was hurting and feeling angry at the betrayal of her friend, "why is this all happening to me? Am I losing everything I hold dear?" Salvia asked herself while getting to her feet, she started to walk towards the Pokemon Center on her own.

Ash and Madeline quickly followed Salvia who was starting to feel more depressed, "tell us everything later alright Dawn!" Ash yelled out to his friend, waving to her. The Sinnoh Prince quickly returned his attention to Salvia, "Salvia wait," Ash called over to the young woman; he continued to run towards her, he grabbed her arm, Salvia turned around with tears in her eyes, "Salvia," Ash called her name as she leapt into his embrace.

Salvia cried feeling like the world was falling on top of her, "what am I to do Ash? I lost my father and the person I thought was my friend is now my enemy," Salvia cried as her husband placed his right hand in her long blue hair.

"Salvia, you have friends, you have people here for you," Ash assured the royal while embracing her.

Madeline watch from a distance with her Tepig sitting next to her, knowing that not everything was going to be fine, "Tepig, you know I feel like Brendan is trying to destroy her," Madeline told her pokemon while trying to keep from getting angry, the girl in the pink dress continued to wait for Ash to finish comforting Salvia.

"Come on Salvia, we need to make sure everything is alright," Ash told his wife with an assured grin.

Outside the city Brendan was walking towards Chris, "What are you planning on doing?" Brendan asked the Chris with an angered expression.

"Well, I plan on having Salvia broken down mentally," Chris laughed at the as he turned around to walk towards the major port city of Slateport, "well, I guess I must be off, to set things up, I will take this attack to the next level, knowing Ash, he would have his mind set on how to deal with his own mother," Chris stated with pride in his actions, "you just be sure to continue spreading some amount of dissent between them."

'Damn you Chris, you really think this is some sort of game,' Brendan thought while clenching his fists angrily, 'my mother has even ordered me to break Salvia mentally, she is my cousin, if she finds this out, she would be completely broken,' Brendan said while punching the air in front of him, he watched as the guards left with Chris, "now I can see what he is doing, he will be trying to eliminate all threats, he sees me as a threat," Brendan told himself while turning around to watch Salvia getting escorted to the hospital, 'how long must I keep this up for?' Brendan asked himself while looking away in shame.

Chris looked back to see Brendan getting angry, "excellent, when I get him out of the way, my path to domination will be that much closer," Chris whispered to himself, not noticing the four ominous pokemon in the distance, "very soon I will reveal my full plans to everyone, I will destroy every kingdom in the world and become the king of kings," Chris stated while laughing manically.

'So that's his plan,' a large blue pokemon questioned the man while watching him walking towards the next city, 'Virizion, Terrakion and Keldeo, time to keep him from achieving this goal.

'But if he achieves that goal, no one will be able to oppose him, we might need some other allies,' Virizion stated while looking over to the distance to find Brendan kicking a tree, 'it seems like Chris is manipulating this young man,' Virizion claimed while getting ready to move on to find more allies in the fight against Chris.

'So, we will need to separate again,' Terrakion said upset that it would have to take on a new mission, 'Keldeo, you will need to head to Sinnoh, find the pokemon of time and space, the one way we can stop Chris is if we imprison him,' Terrakion stated much to the chagrin of the colt pokemon.

'But I want to fight,' Keldeo demanded but the three pokemon shook their heads.

'You have a task you need to accomplish, even the smallest task will yield results, consider this part of your training,' Cobalion reaffirmed the smaller legendry's training, the three larger pokemon went off in separate direction.

Meanwhile back in Petalburg City Ash was waiting for Salvia to come out of the doctors room, 'I can't believe this, if any more things go wrong Salvia, will have a complete mental break down,' Ash thought to himself while watching his foster-daughter playing with Raichu and Tepig, he started to think about what he could do to protect Salvia but even he was at a loss, 'What should I do, I can't even save my own mother from Chris,' Ash kept reminding himself while grasping the chair he was sitting on, "I must find a way to keep Salvia from breaking down," Ash told himself while trying to keep calm.

Ash and Madeline continued to wait for Salvia who was almost finished with her appointment. Ash started to nod off before hearing the door open, he jolted his attention to the door, "how are things going?" another bluenette asked while walking towards her friend.

"Dawn, I have been here for a while, Salvia is still getting checked up to see how things are going," Ash replied with a nervous smile.

"I am here to talk to you Ash," Dawn stated while sitting next to Ash, Dawn took a deep breath and started to get ready to tell Ash what has been on her mind, "when I was about to stop Paul from heading out into battle he knocked me out to keep me safe," Dawn stated while holding onto Paul's pokeballs, "I wanted to watch another battle between you and him," Dawn said while picking up the pokeballs and putting them on Ash's lap, "please take care of them, Paul would want you to train them, I am going to do some soul searching, so this is where we say goodbye for now," Dawn declared while getting up to walk back to the entrance of the doctors, "one more thing Ash, even though I was going out with Paul, I never truly got over you," Dawn professed before leaving the shocked trainer in his seat.

After Dawn had exited the building another door had opened this time Salvia walked out with a more positive expression, "so far everything seems to be going well, the Doctor in Verdantuf Town will want to see me in five weeks," Salvia commented with a ecstatic grin.

"Alright I guess we will be heading to Rustboro City, but first we will need to go through Petalburg Forest," Ash said while handing Salvia's second Eevee egg to her.

* * *

**This one was written quickly because there is a reasonably good explanation for it, I already have the story line in my head, all I have to do is type it in. in fact I also have the Sinnoh Saga pretty much all thought out.**

**Next time episode 65: Return of the Swords.**


	3. Return of the Swords

**Episode 65: Return of the Swords.**

_Chris is so despicable, my job is done, well not yet I have a fair bit to do, like continue the story._

* * *

"Hey Ash wait up Max wants to give you something!" May yelled out, stopping the trio in their tracks, Ash stopped at the edge of the City as the brunette approached them, catching her breath, holding a small yellow device in her left hand, "here is the updated Pokenav, Max wanted to give you this later on, but he seemed certain that you would need it, Max and I already have a few, we even gave Dawn one as well, but she left it in my old room when she left," May explained everything concerned about her friend who had left a day before Ash.

"I think we should just leave Dawn alone, she needs to think on her own, I am sure she will come back a stronger person," Ash assured May quickly, he turned around to see the forest's edge, "well I better get a move on," Ash stated with a smile, he walked towards the forest following the princess and the black haired girl, "thanks May, hope to see you and Drew again in the Kalos region," Ash farewelled May while raising his left arm into the air.

Ash looked at the new device and smiled at it, "you have great friends Ash, I just wish mine wouldn't have tricked me," Salvia said with a heavy heart, she looked back and wondered what to do next, it seemed like the world was collapsing on her, saddened by Brendan's betrayal, 'after all these years, I thought he was my friend,' Salvia thought while clenching her fists angrily.

"I will make him pay for hurting you Salvia," Ash promised before being stopped by the bluenette.

Salvia shook her head and looked up with a more determined expression, "no it will be me that makes him pay, and Uncle Chris I will make him suffer," Salvia declared her intentions to Ash much to his surprise.

Ash tried to say something with even Madeline in shock at what was just stated by a normally gentle and caring person, "no, you taught me revenge isn't the way to achieve things," Ash replied to Salvia's fury, 'great, she is about to lose it,' Ash thought while the royal's eyes grew angrier and more menacing.

"Dad, what's going on?" Madeline asked her adoptive father with concern.

Ash knelt down to replied to Madeline who was equally concerned with Salvia, "we better keep an eye on Salvia," Ash whispered to the little girl with a frown.

"Alright," she replied while the normally gentle smile of Salvia was all but gone, now replaced with a menacing smile.

"Come on, we need to go, I don't think we should be staying in one spot," Ash commented while walking towards the forest, "Salvia, I know you're still angry, but I will come up with an answer to what Brendan is doing," Ash promised his wife with a caring smile.

The trio walked into the forest, the sounds of the pokemon seemed to have put the royal at ease, but she was still feeling betrayed by her friend, "I don't know what came over me, I was so angry it felt like I was losing my mind," Salvia commented while listening to the songs of the bug types.

Ash looked back and smiled, relieved to hear the gentle voice of his wife, "you're feeling the pressure, of not only being pregnant, but having to put up with all the stuff going on since you left home," Ash explained with a smile.

"That's right mom, if you ever need to talk to someone we are here to listen to you," Madeline agreed with Ash, her Tepig nodded while Raichu agreed with the girl.

Salvia started to cry knowing that they were right, "you guys, I should trust you both more, Ash for his judgement and Madeline for uncanny wisdom," Salvia stated with a smile.

"Hey you forgot my fiery personality," Madeline stated with anger while tightening her fists.

Salvia giggled as Madeline grew angry, "yeah that too, but we should continue," Salvia said while agreeing with Madeline.

Ash sighed knowing that, Salvia wasn't her self, the sounds of the pokemon seemed to have soothed her, but Ash knew that Salvia had lost something else than the people she considered important, Ash was concerned that Salvia would end up like her uncle, 'I will not let her follow that path,' Ash told himself while watching his young wife walk ahead, serene for now but what would it take for her to fall over again, would it be something minor or has it been happening for some time? These thoughts crossed Ash's mind as he tried to figure out why Salvia acted the way she did before she entered the forest.

"Hurry up Ash," Salvia called over to Ash with a promising grin.

Ash ran over to the royal with one thing in mind, to protect his wife from herself and everything around her, 'the only person that should be losing their mind is me, but Salvia has been through so much crap, that it has affected her greatly,' Ash thought while walking through the think forest.

"Will she be alright?" Madeline asked her adoptive father.

Walking next to his foster-daughter Ash shook his head, "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling," Ash whispered while remembering what had happened in Petalburg City, for Salvia to see such an event in front of her, first the loss of her father and the betrayal of her friend must have been weighing heavily on her mind, Ash still unsure of what was going on, but he continued to think about his wife.

Salvia in the meantime was walking slowly with Ash and Madeline behind her, 'they are talking about me, they are plotting something,' Salvia thought while seething in anger.

Ash spotted his wife shaking in anger from the events that have caused her to be like this, "Salvia, we need to stop here," Ash instructed the young woman, but she wouldn't listen she continued to walk a head blocking out the music of the pokemon in the forest, "Raichu stay with Madeline ane Tepig," Ash instructed his partner pokemon with a concerned tone.

Ash chased Salvia wanting to find out what was going on in her mind, "stay away from me!" Salvia screamed out while running away from Ash.

Ash quickly caught up with his wife, he grabbed her arm and turned her around, "enough, what's the matter Salvia? I am your husband I should know what's going on," Ash questioned the bluenette.

Salvia tried to force Ash to let go of her arm, "you two are planning something, let go of me!" Salvia replied while yelling out, but this forced Ash to tighten his grip on the young royal's arm, "you're hurting me!" Salvia cried out in pain.

"It will heal, but there is something else, tell me," Ash demanded while Salvia refused to look into his eyes, Ash placed his other hand under her chin, he lifted her head up to see the darkness in her eyes, "again, Salvia I am here for you, and so are my friends, Madeline as well," Ash told the royal as the brightness started to reappear in her eyes.

"I lost my dad Ash, my friend who I thought was the only friend I ever had," Salvia professed with tears rolling down her face, "you only lost a few people, everything so far has hurt me, but you remain insensitive to what has happened to the people around," Salvia cried assuming that none of what happened has affect him.

"Salvia, that's where you're wrong, I was so upset with the loss of your dad and my rival and I am even considering my actions against my mother, don't assume that I am an insensitive jerk," Ash berated his wife much to her shock. Ash placed his arms around her and hugged her, "don't forget, we have been through so much and yet I have remained by your side," Ash told his crying wife.

"I know, but I feel anger that has been building up, all because my uncle wants to achieve a certain goal," Salvia said while burying her head in her husband's chest, "I feel like everything is falling apart," Salvia confessed while crying in Ash's embrace.

'She is a kind, gentle person and with all the bad stuff happening to us, it's no wonder why she is losing her mind,' Ash thought not considering that Salvia is able to read his mind.

"You're right Ash, all this bad stuff happening, I don't know how much more I can take of it," Salvia replied to Ash's thoughts.

"I know, there are times when I get angry myself but sometimes it is better to talk to someone about it, than to bottle it up inside," Ash reminded the princess with a worrying tone, he let go of the hug and turned away, Salvia walked up to Ash and took his right hand, she grasped onto it as tightly as she could trying to convey something to Ash, she looked up trying to keep her true self from being swallowed up, "I know, I will keep you safe," Ash promised with a smile.

Salvia rested her head on the Sinnoh Prince's shoulder smiling, "thank you Ash," Salvia thanked Ash sweetly.

Ash continued back to the place where Madeline was waiting, "we camp tonight," Ash declared while approaching his foster-daughter.

Ash, Madeline and Salvia set up the tents and watched the stars starting to fill the night sky, Ash gathered the wood and set up a fire with in the camp, Salvia prepared dinner with the help of Madeline, under the watchful gaze of Ash who was still uncertain about the recent instability of Salvia's behaviour, 'I hope I can protect her this time around,' Ash thought concerned about the well-being of his wife. Under his vigilant gaze he made sure his wife didn't act out of the ordinary.

"Now Madeline, when you mix the batter we have to place it in the tin," Salvia instructed her adoptive daughter serenely.

"This is so hard, why are we baking a cake?" Madeline asked with a tone of displeasure.

Ash walked over to the table and helped out, "it isn't that hard, why not do this together?" Ash suggested with a grin, the trio placed the cake in the tin, with Salvia watching with a relieved smile, 'she seems much calmer now,' Ash thought to himself.

'Thank you Ash,' Salvia reminded herself while placing the tin inside the portable oven.

Ash and Salvia served up and placed it near the pokemon, then served up dinner for themselves and Madeline, "alright guys dig in," Ash instructed before gorging down on the dinner Salvia prepared.

After watching the display from Madeline and her husband, "Stop eating like a pig!" Salvia yelled out. Ash looked up innocently with Madeline and slurped the string of pasta hanging out of their respective mouths, they then noticed a smile gracing the lips of the princess, "what you thought I was losing it?" Salvia question while laughing at the duo.

Ash and Madeline turned to each other and breathed a sigh of relief, "well we better eat properly," Ash replied with a smile; he continued to eat but a lot tidier than before much to the pleasure of the bluenette.

After eating their dinners in a respectful manner Salvia got up and started to pick up the dishes, but Madeline stopped her from going any further, "no, I want to clean the dishes tonight," Madeline told her adoptive mother with a smile.

Ash nodded and walked over to help the little girl, "Salvia, you need to rest," Ash led Salvia to a log, he quickly ran over to the pot and started doing the dishes with Madeline.

After it was done Ash grabbed the cake tin out of the oven, "be careful it's hot," Madeline berated Ash with a smile.

Ash walked over to Salvia and sat next to her, Ash watched Salvia staring at the stars, "you know Ash, I don't know how to feel any more, I am scared Ash, of losing people important to me," Salvia confessed while placing her hand over her husbands, "I fear that I will lose you and Madeline, I fear that I will lose more of my friends," Salvia continued to state her concerns to Ash who was listening to every word.

Ash placed his right arm around his wife's shoulder, "you know, this is better, I will continue to listen to you," Ash stated while Salvia looked up to meet her husband's brown eyes, "you also have nothing to worry about, Madeline and I are not going to hurt you, Madeline looks up to you and I love you," Ash commented while Salvia stared at Ash in shock.

Salvia turned her attention to the night sky, the stars blinking in unison on the dark canvas, the bright crescent moon hanging in the night sky, "I haven't looked at the stars in such a long time," Salvia peacefully stated.

Ash knew that this moment of peace wasn't going to last too much longer, but also knew that if he stayed near his wife, nothing was going to happen to her, "come on let's get some of that cake, you and Madeline made," Ash said while getting up.

"Not now Ash, I want you here with me, this moment of peace, I need it," Salvia replied with a smile, she grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him back towards the log.

Madeline walked over to the duo and gave them a slice of the cake, "here, I will be going to bed soon, so enjoy," Madeline told the couple, she walked off towards her tent with her sleepy fire pokemon, "good night."

Ash and Salvia shared some of the cake while enjoying the night sky, Ash looked back towards the tent that catered for two people, "come on we have a long day tomorrow, let's get some sleep," Ash commented while getting back up.

Ash and Salvia walked to their tent as the Raichu walked into Madeline's tent, Salvia looked back to see the fire still burning, her thoughts were still uneasy, but she remained at ease for the moment, 'I am happy I have people around me,' Salvia thought with a smile.

Ash allowed Salvia into the tent first then followed his wife in, "sleep well Salvia," Ash wished his wife warmly.

"Sweet dreams Ash," Salvia replied before falling asleep.

_(Near Mauville City)_

Brendan was walking around the city late at night trying to come up with a plan before being confronted by Alex who stood in his way, "Oh hey Alex, nice to see you again," Brendan greeted the Sinnoh Royal guard in an uneasy manner.

"Cut the nonsense, why did you summon me here?" Alex asked with a glare.

Brendan looked away with a guilty face, "I called you here because I need your help," Brendan replied much to the shock of Alex.

"What? But why do you need my help?" Alex asked while starting to become suspicious of the teen.

Brendan looked around to make sure Chris' guards didn't follow him, he gulped for a moment and exhaled before he could say anything, "Alex, I want to start a new plan, one that my mother and Chris know nothing about, but for this plan I need your help," Brendan explained his idea to the Salvia's friend, "but first I am going to tell you something that you must keep quiet even from Ash and Salvia," Brendan instructed the royal guard.

Unfazed by the words of the prince of Hoenn, Alex stood there needing to listen to more of Brendans plan, "alright, tell me everything," Alex replied sternly.

"Where do I begin? Oh right, Salvia is actually my older cousin my mother was separated from her family which just so happens to be Salvia's mother," Brendan started explaining the situation to Alex who started to grow intrigued by the start of the story, "after my mother found out about her sister she grew the thirst for revenge for the people who separated her from her sister," Brendan explained more to the Sinnoh Guard.

"So the queen's sister isn't very nice, tell me something I don't know, now where are you heading with this? I need to meet up with Lady Salvia and Prince Ash," Alex enquired while preparing to climb onto his Rapidash.

"I overheard Chris and my mother talking, they plan on disposing of me, also Chris also plans on disposing of this woman very soon," Brendan replied much to the shock of Alex.

"So Chris, is getting ready to start his plan then, I can see what is going to happen, once your disposed of, the Hoenn family will have no heir, then it would leave the Hoenn royal family ina vulnerable position which Chris can exploit," Alex explained with certainty, he looked over to the teen and smiled at him, "alright tell me your plan," Alex requested while getting back off Rapidash.

"I plan on following orders for now, which means I need to oppose Ash and Salvia, once I gained enough trust I will then betray even my own mother to make sure that Chris' plans fail," Brendan decreed with a confident smirk.

"You mean to risk your title as prince to make sure your cousin remains safe, you also risk execution if you betray your own family, is that what you want? To be charged with treason," Alex asked the teen with a frown, Brendan nodded knowing that there was no going back, both Alex and Brendan acknowledged the risks involved with the planned betrayal, "very well then, but you need to be careful, if you get caught too early I will not be able to help you," Alex remarked as he turned his fire horse around to start galloping away.

"There is one more thing, Chris plans on starting another war, but he plans on using it to destroy both the Hoenn region and the Sinnoh region," Brendan told the royal guard.

"Thanks for telling, but that part is best kept quiet from Salvia, a lot of bad things are happening to her, this could cause the normally gentle woman that she is to become unstable," Alex ordered calmly before galloping away from the young prince.

'Thank you Alex, but there is a lot on the line now, the futures of both Sinnoh and Hoenn are on the line,' Brendan thought while watching the Sinnoh Guard riding away. Brendan turned around to get ready to implement his plan, 'first I need to follow orders, which means I need to attack Ash and Salvia again,' Brendan thought as he had to follow his uncles plan to keep his mission a secret from him, he knew he had to make his façade a secret from his own family.

Brendan walked to the Pokemon Center to get some sleep for the night, "even if my plan succeeds, it will mean the end of the Hoenn Kingdom, but it would be better if that happened, rather than letting my uncle take control," Brendan explained to himself as the three regis in his possession, the prince looked up to see a large green pokemon standing in front of him, 'what I have never seen this pokemon before.'

The grassland pokemon walked up to the royal as he grew nervous at the sight of the never before seen pokemon, 'My name is Virizion,' the pokemon introduced itself to the prince of Hoenn

_(8 hours later)_

after having a good night's sleep the trio had packed up their tents and started to have breakfast, the wind was cool, and the sky a pale red with a few clouds starting to roll in, Ash looked up and started to shake his head, "well today's weather will be interestimg, might see some rain," Ash commented sighing at the sight of the red sky as it became more obvious to him.

"What do you mean Ash?" Salvia asked with a calmer dispostition.

Ash pointed to the morning sky showing the princess the red sky, "well Salvia, there is an old saying, red in the morning sailor's warning red at night sailors delight," Ash replied with a cheeky grin, "but Misty would always add something along the lines of watch out for a Gyrados," Ash remarked with a chuckle.

"Why?" Salvia asked while tilting her head.

"Because she was always afraid of Gyrados, but she managed to overcome that fear and caught one herself," Ash explained his friends past to the princess.

"Okay it's time for us to head to Rustboro City," Madeline dictated with great excitement.

"Wow Madeline, you seem really excited about heading to Rustboro City," Salvia replied with a smile.

Ash pulled out his new Pokenav and looked at the updates on the device, "hm, so the new upgrades also show us the weather forecast and… we can even ring our friends too, sweet," Ash said with a smile while looking at the new phone feature on his Pokenav, "let's see, oh May's and Drew's number is on here," Ash told himself while spotting his friends on the device , he closed up the yellow item and placed it in his pocket. The trainer looked up and started walking in front of the girls, "well, let's get a move on, I would like to see if there is a Pin Master in Rustboro," Ash said while cracking his knuckles with a confident grin.

'As confident as always,' Salvia reminded herself while looking to the forest floor, 'if only I was stronger, my father wouldn't have been killed, if only I was stronger people and pokemon wouldn't have gotten hurt,' Salvia berated herself while clenching her fists.

"Mom, what's the matter?" Madeline asked the bluenette worried about what had happened the previous day.

Salvia placed her right hand gently onto her foster-daughter's head and smiled at her softly, "nothing is wrong, I was just thinking to myself."

Ash noted the tone in her voice, it wasn't the same confident tone that she would normally have when she was talking, Ash knew that Salvia was still shaken by the events in the last year, Ash also started to feel guilt as to what would had happened to his wife, 'she wanted to travel because I influenced her, she has seen things that no gentle, caring person should see,' Ash reminded himself with sadness as he started to walk slowly through the forest. As the trio walked through the forest they were greeted by a familiar legendary pokemon from the Unova region, the prince looked up to see Cobalion the leader of the swords of Justice, "Cobalion, it's good to see you again."

'I know, but right now, we need to talk about Chris' plans,' Cobalion declared, the legendary pokemon looked over to the princess and started to think about the changes she had been through, 'there is something different about you Princess Salvia,' Cobalion admitted with an uneasy feeling.

Salvia looked away knowing that the legendary pokemon was right about her, the day continued to warm up as the humidity steadily picked up, Salvia looked over to Ash who was waiting for the iron will pokemon to say something, "come on we don't have all day," Salvia declared impatiently.

Ash turned his attention to Salvia who was becoming increasingly irritated by the lack of information coming from the Sword of Justice, "Salvia, we have plenty of time," Ash replied with a smile.

Salvia shook her head and shrugged her shoulders in disbelief, "what and wait for my uncle to make a move, wait for my former friend attack us again, you fool Ash, we are clearly the hunted now," Salvia commented with anger while looking away from her husband, "in case you have forgotten I am carrying your child Ash," Salvia reminded Ash with her arms crossed.

"That's one of the reasons why we cannot be so reckless, I refuse to put our unborn child in any danger, so I will remain patient and make my move when the time is right," Ash argued with conviction.

Cobalion looked down at the trainer and smiled, 'words of a leader, right now it's best to stay patient,' Cobalion complimented Ash with pride.

"Oh right, now he sounds like a leader, but people are in danger, if we wait then those people might not even have the chance to live life to their fullest," Salvia commented with a frown.

Ash shook his head and looked up to the sky, "I don't think Chris would risk such a move, he knows that the people aren't going to oppose him, he would most likely set a trap for us," Ash replied while turning his attention to Cobalion who nodded in agreement.

"So you want to make sure we stay back and not fall for a trap, what about what happened to my dad, what are you going to do to save your own mother?" Salvia questioned with frustration.

Ash looked to the ground with tears rolling down his face, "you think all this is easy, I have had to come to terms with the fact that I might have to kill my own mother because of the crimes your uncle is making her commit," Ash replied with a saddened tone. Salvia listened with disbelief at what her husband was announcing, "plus I don't think Chris is going to let my mother live after this, once he finishes using my mom, he will dispose of her, much like how your friends mother and Chris will dispose of Brendan once they finish using him," Ash explained while Salvia gasped in shock at what the raven haired prince was saying.

Salvia stepped back shocked at the trainer's words, "no, it can't be you're lying, Brendan is my enemy," Salvia started crying as her back leaned against the tree.

'I am afraid he is telling the truth, Chris is using Brendan to achieve his goals, what I like to know, is how did you know about this?' Cobalion questioned the trainer while Salvia continued to remain in a state of shock.

"My adoptive father is an aura guardian," Madeline answered for Ash.

The two starter pokemon nodded in agreement as the legendary started laughing, 'an aura guardian, I thought they were all killed off, hundreds of years ago,' Cobalion replied calmly.

"Yeah, I am a descendant of Sir Aaron," Ash remarked with a prideful expression, "I can sense the aura of a person and what they are thinking, I can also read what happened to that person in recent events," Ash explained his abilities out loud.

'Alright, now that we have that new development out of the way, I need to explain Chris' master plan, this might come to you as a shock, but I was with my fellow Sword of Justice when we found this out,' Cobalion explained with a solemn tone.

Ash closed his eyes and started to sense the aura of the pokemon, "Chris is planning on starting another war, but this time he intends to destroy all kingdoms then create his own," Ash stated after sensing the aura of the legendary pokemon, Ash looked back to Salvia who was unable to take in what was said, Ash exhaled heavily and kept his cool he looked around to see his small family in the area, Ash turned his focus back to the legendary pokemon and confidently glared at the iron will pokemon, "we will end Chris and his plans in this region, we will make a stand against him, tell Mewtwo, tell all legendary pokemon, Chris must be stopped," Ash instructed the legendary pokemon with conviction, "he will not become the king of kings, I will take that role and bring peace to the pokemon world where people and pokemon can live in harmony," Ash declared with his right fist raised towards the sky.

Madeline smiled at her adoptive father, 'that's dad, let's beat the crap out Chris,' Madeline thought with a confident smile.

"Ash, the king of kings, will he achieve such a goal?" Salvia asked herself silently while watching Ash turn his attention to her, 'why is he looking at me?' Salvia wondered with an uneasy expression.

"Salvia, I want a world that you would be happy with, I need your help for that," Ash said with his hand extended out to his wife, "what do you say? Want to help me stop Chris? Or are you just going to stand there and not do a thing?" Ash questioned the Sinnoh royal.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it seems things are now starting to fall into place for the next stage of the conflict. Salvia is showing some signs of instability, will Ash and Madeline be able to keep her in check? Or will Salvia lose control?**

**Next time Episode 66: Rocking at the Rustboro Gym**


	4. Rocking the Rustboro Gym

**Episode 66: Rocking at the Rustboro Gym.**

_Time to hit the road and give Ash another battle, this time he will face Roxanne for the Stone Pin and no it isn't the Stoner Pin, because that would imply smoking weed which is wrong kids._

_**Ash: **__what about drinking grog?_

_**Me: **__ that's fine with me._

* * *

Ash walked out of the forest followed by the two girls, he looked over to the horizon to see the first of the large major cities of the region, his thoughts continued to fall back to Salvia who seemed to have become more unstable, but he knew that he needed to keep her safe, to let her know that he would always be there when he needed her, he memorised the words that were told to him by a large blue pokemon, 'to become the king, I need to unite all fallen kingdoms, but Unova is rising as a kingdom itself,' Ash thought to himself while standing his ground, he looked to the ground and wondered what would be next, "you can come out of hiding now!" Ash yelled out much to the shock of Salvia, Madeline and Raichu.

"How did you know I was here?" Brendan asked in shock as he approached the trio.

Ash shook his head and sighed, "we need to talk in private," Ash replied with a frown, Ash looked back and nodded, "you two stay here," Ash instructed the girls.

Ash and Brendan walked some distance away to prevent the girls from hearing a single word, Salvia wondered what was going on, she watched Brendan wondering what was going on, "what is Ash doing? Brendan can't be trusted," Salvia though out loud.

Ash stopped and glared at the Hoenn royal, "alright tell me what's going on, I can tell something is on your mind, because I can sense your thoughts through your aura," Ash told the prince with a scowl.

Brendan looked away with an expression of guilt, "I met a pokemon called Virizion," Brendan professed much to the trainer's surprise. He looked over Ash's shoulder and started to sigh, "there are other things Ash, I have a new plan, but it requires me to do some unthinkable things, for that I need you to look after my cousin," Brendan stated with a frown while noticing Ash raising his fist into the air, "before you punch me Ash, I need you to hear what I have to say," Brendan requested while waiting for Ash to hit him.

Ash lowered his fist and turned around, "I already know, after all of this the Hoenn kingdom will collapse, but don't worry I will make sure nothing happens to the Hoenn region, also I will not tell Salvia of your plan or the fact that you're her cousin, it wouldn't do her any good at this stage, I have learned to block my thoughts from her as well," Ash explained everything to the prince of the Hoenn region.

"Thanks Ash," Brendan replied with a smile.

"Take care, we will do battle some other time, for now I have the Master's Challenge I need to compete in," Ash stated while walking off towards the two girls, 'if a say anything to Salvia, I wouldn't help her mental state, I need to keep it quiet for now,' Ash thought with guilt in his mind, it was then he realised that Brendan's thoughts also told him about his mother, a burst of grief entered his mind, he knew that he kept telling himself that it wasn't true but knew that everything was coming to a moment.

Ash continued back towards the girls, the pokemon walked in the grass and swimming in the nearby lake, Salvia noticed the sad expression, "What did Brendan say to you?" Salvia asked with impatience.

Ash looked up and grinned to hide his anger, "nothing Salvia, we were talking about when we face one another in battle," Ash lied to Salvia but deep down he knew that it wasn't going to work, but felt guilty that he had to resort to such actions to his wife.

Salvia clenched her fists in anger and walked up to Ash, "you had the chance to beat him up and you didn't do it!" Salvia yelled out berating her husband.

Ash shook his head and sighed at the princess, "Salvia, you aren't thinking right, where is that gentle girl I love?" Ash questioned the bluenette with a serious tone.

Salvia stood back and gritted her teeth, she closed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't get it, you would always act first and think later," Salvia said while starting to cry at that point.

Ash started to chuckle with thoughts of his father-in-law flowing through his mind, "maybe that's because I learned that even with my actions, I still have to think about the consequences," Ash replied to his wife's worries, the wind picked up blowing the leaves between the duo, Ash looked towards the forest, "to be a leader, I need to think like one, there is only so much you can achieve by acting first and thinking later," Ash stated wisely while Madeline smiled at her foster father.

"So you intend to be a leader, what changed your perspective Ash? You wanted nothing to do with being a leader," Salvia questioned the prince.

Ash turned around and smiled, "you already know Salvia," Ash replied while walking ahead.

Ash walked towards a wooden bridge with the breeze continuing to sway the trees from side to side, Salvia and Madeline followed the trainer knowing that another Master's battle was coming their way, but an uneasy silence fell between Ash and Salvia, somehow it was like their old personalities switched, 'why is it that I am now more rash while Ash is thinking things through?' Salvia wondered while looking up to her husband with a grimace.

"What's wrong?" Madeline asked curiously, she placed her Tepig on the bridge and continued to walk behind Ash.

Salvia stopped and looked at her reflection in the water, "I don't know Madeline," Salvia replied with uncertainty, she reached out towards the water and grabbed for some of the liquid, "I have no idea, what to think anymore, I can't even sense Ash's thought like I would like to," Salvia stated while wincing in pain at the situation that was unfolding around her, 'is it that I can't truly understand Ash anymore?' Salvia questioned herself.

Ash placed his left hand on her right shoulder, "no Salvia, that isn't the problem, you have been through a lot, what I want you to do is be yourself," Ash stated considerately.

Salvia picked stood up and placed her hand on his, "thanks Ash, right now I feel lost," Salvia complied with a smile.

"Well then I will help you find your way," Ash retorted proudly as he looked into the water, "that is the duty of a husband right?" Ash questioned the princess calmly.

Salvia stared at the water's surface and started to smile proudly, "yes, you're right Ash."

Madeline continued to watch her foster parents, she tried to shake away a nostalgic feeling but knew that there was no running from it, it continued to build as she remembered the story her mother told her about her father a couple of years prior to meeting Ash and Salvia, 'how did you two meet?' Madeline questioned herself, remembering the story of her mother and father.

_(Flashback)_

"Hey mom, how did you and dad meet?" A much younger Madeline asked her mother with great hope.

Madeline's mother looked down at her daughter and smiled at her, "well it was many years before you were born," she replied with pride.

"Yeah I know before I was born, but I want to know the specific day," Madeline interrupted her mother.

The mother sat down next to her daughter and placed the young girl on her lap, "well, as I was saying Madeline, I met your father when we I was traveling, I wasn't exactly the wealthiest girl in the region, but your father was heir to a massive fortune," she said with a smile as she looked out towards the window, she knew that it was almost time to travel towards the Unova region, her bags were packed in the lounge room and she continued to wait for her husband, "I was starting my Master's Challenge as well, while travelling through the Hoenn region I met your father who was working for the Hoenn kingdom, while we travelled together I made an error of judgement and misinterpreted what one of his friends said," she explained while Madeline listened with great intent.

"Yeah mom and then what?" Madeline questioned the woman.

"Well, I wasn't pleased at what she told your father, but in the end I found out what was really going on, she was actually telling him to confess his love for me," she replied happily.

"Wow, that's amazing mom, so did he say something to you?" Madeline asked loudly.

Madeline's mother shook her head and sighed, "it wasn't for another year before he actually told me that he loved me, it wasn't long after I found out that I was having a child, it was before I was going to do the next part of my journey," she spoke about everything that happened during the rest of her journey.

"Wow mom, you must have had a really cool journey, I hope to be just like you some day," Madeline said with joy before her father entered the house, "Dad, it's great to see you, so are we going to travel to Unova now?" Madeline questioned the man as he walked into the house.

"Yes Madeline, we will be traveling to the Unova region now," the man said with joy as he made a mess of his daughter's hair.

"Stop that dad, you know how much I hate that," Madeline complained.

"Yeah Nathan, our daughter hates when you mess up her hair," the woman told her husband as she walked up to him, they both watched their daughter running up the steps not knowing that their lives were about to end the moment they boarded the plane to the Unova region.

"Well Joan, our daughter seems really happy that we finally get to do a family holiday, we might be able to see a Master's battle along the way as well," Nathan said with as he heard a loud thund coming from the top of the steps, he looked up and chuckled at the situation his daughter had placed herself in, "you know Madeline, you don't need to bring a suitcase that heavy on our holiday," the father said with a laugh, he walked up the steps and placed the bag back in her room, "what were you hoping for?" Nathan asked his daughter with a sigh.

"I was hoping to catch a few pokemon like you and mom did back in when you both travelled," Madeline replied with a smile.

Nathan walked back into his daughter's room and came back out after placing a purple, pink and white ball with an 'M' on the front, "before you start your journey I will help you I promise," Nathan promised his daughter, he messed up the girls hair again and walked down the steps waiting for his daughter to come back down with a lighter suitcase.

_(Return from flashback)_

Madeline looked at her pokemon and smiled, "I wonder how Ash and Salvia met, I am sure it would be really nice to find out how it happened," Madeline stated while the two people she was asking about walked up to her, Ash messed up her hair with a cheeky grin, "stop that, you know I hate that," Madeline complained but felt at ease knowing that there was that familiar presence about the two people she was travelling with.

Salvia shook her head and waved her finger as to tell Ash that was wrong, "yeah Ash, you know how much Madeline hates it when you mess up her hair," Salvia berated Ash.

Madeline watched in shock as the same expressions of her parents were seen in the two people who had adopted her, 'no way, I see more of my parents in them, even their expressions and what they said, it's exactly the same,' Madeline thought to herself while clenching her fists.

Ash looked down and nodded at the girl, "so Madeline, you lead the way to Rustboro City, we aren't that far away from it," Ash commented while letting the black haired girl take the lead with her Tepig and his Raichu.

Madeline looked back and began to wonder even more about the two people, were they really similar to her parents? And how is it that she began to get this warm feeling when those two were happy, 'similar to my parents, how is it possible?' Madeline thought while looking ahead to see the major city in front of her.

Ash and Salvia followed the girl into the city, the busy streets filled with cars and people in the shops, "this city hasn't changed much," Ash commented happily.

Ash, Salvia and Madeline walked around to find the gym, walking pass the largest building in the city Ash wondered if the Stone Family was still in charge, business people were emerging from the building dressed mostly in red with red sun glasses, Ash tilted his head and wondered what was going on, "who are those guys? I thought the only ones that wore red was Team Magma," Ash questioned the five people that walked out.

"Yeah, we can take advantage of the uneasy state the world was in to make money," one of the men said with a sinister smile, "we better head back to Kalos for further briefing on our next mission," he said before leaving the area with his fellow grunts.

Madeline was also thinking about the situation, "Kalos Region? So even while we travel there we will face those guys?" Madeline asked the trainer while feeling a little upset about the future events that could take place. "Mr Stone!" Madeline called out to an elderly man who emerged from the Devon Corporation, he had spiky white hair and was wearing a mostly blue suit.

The man walked over to the trio with a down trodden expression, "hey guys, I guess you saw those five people in a red suit," the president said with a saddened tone.

"Yeah we saw them," Ash replied with an expression of uncertainty.

Salvia nodded in support and looked back towards the entrance of the city to see the last of the men leaving the city, "we will deal with them," Salvia said before leaving, it was then that Ash grabbed her arm and held her back, "Ash we need to stop them, whatever it is can be bothersome," Salvia told Ash but he didn't let go of her arm.

"We need to learn more about it," Ash suggested with a stern tone.

"I will tell you everything once you defeat Roxanne," Mr Stone decreed before walking back towards his business.

Ash turned his attention to the gym building opposite the Devon Corporation, he grew more excited about the upcoming battle, he knew it would be a good chance for him to help out Salvia and her pokemon, he turned his attention to the princess and picked up two of his pokeballs, "Salvia, I would like to borrow two of your pokemon," Ash told his wife with an optimistic grin.

"But I only have four here, my Dragonite and Tyranitar, as well as Latios and Mew with me," Salvia stated while Ash handed her the two pokeballs.

"Well then, I will just borrow your Dragonite and Tyranitar," Ash replied with confidence.

Salvia handed her husband the two pokemon and allowed him to walk a head with them, she and Madeline followed him towards the gym expecting a great battle between him and the gym leader who doubled as a Pin Master, 'Ash is six pins away from competing in the Master's League,' Salvia thought while watching her determined husband walk up to the entrance of the gym.

'My foster father must be at least six pins away, this is his fourth region from what these two tell me, they are following the exact same path my mother and father took when they travelled together,' Madeline thought, remembering the stories of her mother and father. Salvia and Ash walked into the gym with the prince's Raichu, "you know Tepig, I will show you my family home," Madeline told her fire pokemon, she slowly walked into the gym to see Salvia taking her seat to watch Ash battle, Madeline looked across the battlefield to see a woman with brown hair, wearing a purple dress and pink stockings, "hey that's my teacher Roxanne," Madeline said with a surprised expression on her face.

"Alright Ash, with eleven Pins you should know the rules by now, six pokemon each best out of six," Roxanne declared the rules of the battle to Ash.

"Of cause Roxanne, but I will not be taking it easy," Ash replied with a smirk, he picked his first pokemon with confidence and waited for the school teacher's choice of pokemon.

"Go Golem," Roxanne called for her first pokemon, the large boulder like pokemon roared out ready to face Ash and his pokemon in battle.

"As expected, let's see you face off against my Lucario," Ash called out his first pokemon in battle, the two pokemon readied themselves for battle while the two girls waited in anticipation, "I will start things off, Lucario attack with Bone Rush," Ash instructed his pokemon rashly.

"Oh no you don't Golem, use Bulldoze," Roxanne countered Ash with confidence.

"Lucario jump out of the way," Ash ordered quickly.

The large rock type pokemon leapt into the air and curled itself up and started crashing down towards the opposing pokemon, but before it could crash onto the steel type pokemon, he leapt out of the way to avoid the attack and the impending shockwave, after avoiding the attack the aura pokemon charged with a blue bone like weapon and started to hit the rock type with multiple bone strikes.

"Use Defense Curl," Roxanne instructed her pokemon.

Ash immediately knew what Roxanne was planning , 'she intends to use Roll Out,' Ash assumed quickly. "Lucario stand back, then use Aura Sphere," Ash quickly gave out his command.

"What Ash rushed that move, but if that is the case, Ash knows what the next move is going to be," Madeline pointed out but didn't know why Ash was in such a rush to finish Golem off, she watched as Roxanne steadily told her pokemon to attack with Roll Out, 'but Ash should know that rock type moves are very weak against steal types and with fighting types thrown in the mix that makes it worse,' Madeline wondered as the rock type crashed into the ball of aura.

The rock type fell back after receiving the powerful hit, "I know my pokemon has the type advantage, but knowing you Roxanne, you made sure to make Roll Out powerful in case you faced this pokemon," Ash explained while Roxanne shrugged her shoulders in amazemen.

"Impressive Ash, you saw right through my plan and gave my Golem a powerful counter attack," Roxanne complimented the prince, "Roll Out one more time," Roxanne instructed her pokemon.

Ash smirked at the rushed command and nodded at his pokemon, the aura pokemon formed another Aura Sphere and ran towards the left side of the battle while being chased by the rolling pokemon, the larger pokemon started to catch up to the fighting type, "now hit it with Aura Spere," Ash instructed his pokemon quickly, the fighting/steel pokemon quickly turned around and fired the ball of energy at the rock type pokemon.

"No Golem," Roxanne called out to her pokemon, she watched as her pokemon unrolled and unable to battle against the first opponent, "it seems that you took the first round Ash," Roxanne submitted, she recalled her first pokemon with Ash doing the same thing. The two combating trainer chose their next pokeball, "alright, Probopass, let's go."

Ash started to think about who to choose next, the rock type in front of him, stood stationary, "Alright then, Raichu, I choose you," Ash called to his partner pokemon to face the pokemon with a large red nose and hat like feature with a large moustache under the nose, 'this is the same Probopass my Raichu faced six years ago,' Ash thought while the two pokemon prepared for battle.

"Time for some payback Probopass, attack with Earthquake," Roxanne instructed her pokemon.

The rock type pokemon started to glow causing the earth to shake in the gym causing everyone to hold their ground, 'no way she has trained harder since I beat her the last time,' Ash thought while his Raichu tried to hold his ground, "now try Thunderbolt," Ash panicked in his counter attack.

"Not a chance, Probopass, attack with Rock Tomb," Roxanne instructed her pokemon.

"Alright buddy dodge the attack, then use Volt Tackle," Ash ordered his partner pokemon quickly.

Raichu charged towards the opposing pokemon dodging the rocks that were coming from out of the ground, the electric mouse gained a yellow aura and tackled the rock type pokemon, Raichu fell back with red sparks coming from his body, but Probopass remained on the spot like nothing had happened, "well Ash, I was making sure that it wasn't going to be like the last time," Roxanne pointed out while the electric mouse started to pant from the two hits he had taken during the battle.

Ash started to grow frustrated at the defensive battle that Roxanne had started, "Raichu attack with Thunderbolt," Ash ordered his pokemon in a hurried manner.

"Earthquake now," Roxanne quickly countered Ash's command.

"Raichu, try dodging with Volt Tackle," Ash issued his instructions.

"Won't work Ash, shake the entire battlefield," Roxanne ordered with confidence, a powerful wave from the ground crashed into the electric mouse knocking him out of the battle, "you thought that I wasn't anticipating this rematch, I knew full well that you would take up the Master's Challenge," Roxanne stated while recalling her victorious pokemon.

"Should have known better," Ash stated with a chuckle, Ash helped his Raichu back to where his wife was sitting and then walked back towards the battlefield without noticing Salvia swapping one of the pokeballs on his belt, Roxanne called out her next pokemon to battle, "a Rampardos, I see you have been to Sinnoh," Ash said with a grin, he looked at the large dinosaur like pokemon with a thick blue skull like feature and a large dark grey body, "if that's the case then I choose you Serperior," Ash called out his next pokemon, coming out was a large green serpentine pokemon.

"Ah a grass type pokemon, this will be fun," Roxanne said with a smile, the dinosaur was getting ready to charge flaring at the nostrils, "Zen Headbutt," Roxanne instructed her pokemon quickly.

"Coil now," Ash instructed his pokemon with certainty, the grass type coiled it's body and defended itself from the incoming attack, the ancient pokemon crashed into the defending pokemon knocking it back towards Ash, "Coil again," Ash instructed the female grass type.

"When are you going to attack?" Roxanne asked patiently.

"When the time is right," Ash replied calmly.

Salvia was wondering where this patient trainer had come front, all she knew is that it was after her father's death, 'he is taking his time, but wait doesn't coil increase both attack and defense?' Salvia wondered as she began to get a grasp on Ash's plan.

"Head Smash," Roxanne called for the next attack.

"Coil one more time," Ash instructed his pokemon quickly as the fossil pokemon lowered its head and charged towards Serperior, the attack smashed into the grass type pokemon but it didn't seem to do much damage, Ash smirked knowing that the time was right to attack, "now Serperior attack with Leaf Blade," Ash instructed his pokemon to attack.

The grass type leapt into the air with her tail glowing bright green, Serperior slashed down with her tail dealing severe damage to Rampardos, in shock at the attack's raw power Roxanne gasped at the display, "in one hit," Roxanne stated while recalling her fallen pokemon.

Ash recalled his grass type pokemon proudly while the girls watched in awe, "hell yeah Ash, show her what you can do!" Madeline cheered for Ash loudly and proudly.

"Come on Ash, another win and you're guaranteed not to lose," Salvia called over to Ash while hoping that he would eventually use the pokemon she swapped around.

"Alright go Archeops," Roxanne called for a yellow and blue pokemon to take to the battle.

Ash grabbed one of Salvia's pokeballs and threw it out, "Go Tyranitar," Ash called for Salvia's powerful pokemon, but much to his shock a mostly black pokemon with a red collar and white fog like substance appeared coming from its head, "Darkrai?" Ash asked out loud before turning to Salvia who looked away with guilt, 'she must have swapped Tyranitar when I placed Raichu next to her,' Ash thought while feeling angered by her actions, "you know I didn't want to use legendries in this battle," Ash said with anger.

"I have always wanted to battle against a legendary," Roxanne professed with a confident smile, but she still couldn't help but shaking at the sight of the powerful pokemon facing her Archeops, "Start things off with Dragon Claw," Roxanne called for the attack.

'Ash, I know you're reluctant to battle with me now, but I would think it would be great to test our connection in this battle,' Darkrai suggested calmly.

"Alright, Darkrai, attack with Dark Pulse," Ash instructed his pokemon with less excitement. The dark type pokemon followed the unenthusiastic command and unleashed a powerful pulse of dark energy towards the charging rock type, the first bird pokemon fell back towards the gym leader who was in awe at the legendary pokemon.

"Wow what power, Archeops attack with Rock Slide," Roxanne instructed her pokemon. The brightly colored pokemon sent a powerful avalanche of boulders towards the dark type pokemon, Ash didn't instruct the legendary to dodge and allowed it to take the hit, "not a lot of damage, that's right when Archeops takes a lot of damage its power is halved," Roxanne reminded herself.

"Darkrai finish this off with Shadow Ball," Ash ordered in a disinterested manner, the pitch black pokemon formed a ghostly sphere and fired it at the rock type pokemon.

The attack slammed into Archeops dealing immense damage to the gym leaders pokemon, "no way, my pokemon was knocked out in just two hits, this guy is good," Roxanne admitted while recalling her knocked out pokemon.

Ash recalled the dark type pokemon and then turned his gaze to Salvia, "why did you do it?" Ash asked coldly, "why did you swap the pokeball over?" Ash questioned her, but she never replied to Ash's enquiry, 'whatever, I will finish this battle,' Ash reminded himself as he while choosing his next combatant.

"Rhyperior, it's time to rock the stage," Roxanne called out her fifth pokemon for the battle.

"Emboar, I choose you," Ash called for his next pokemon.

"Rock Wrecker," Roxanne instructed her pokemon to attack immediately.

Ash smirked at the powerful attack coming his pokemon's way, "dodge with Flame Charge," Ash instructed the mega pig pokemon, the fire type stomped on the ground and ran to the right of the massive boulder coming his way, "now strike back with Brick Break," Ash instructed his pokemon with certainty.

"Stop Emboar with Stone Edge," Roxanne countered the trainer's attack. The mighty rock type surrounded itself with a group of stones; the fire type was barraged with a volley of stones dealing great harm to Ash's pokemon.

Emboar got back up glaring at the rock type pokemon, "alright payback time, Emboar get closer with Flame Charge," Ash ordered calmly.

"Rock Wrecker," Roxanne instructed her pokemon in a hurried manner.

"Dodge it with Flame Charge," Ash ordered his pokemon quickly.

With the increased speed Emboar dodged the powerful boulder and was ready to strike back against the, "attack with Brick Break," Ash barked out his command, before Roxanne could react to the command a powerful punch caused the drill pokemon to slide back towards the gym leader.

"This battle is far from over, Earthquake!" Roxanne instructed her pokemon with vigour.

"Leap up and strike with Brick Break again," Ash ordered his pokemon.

As the rock type shook the ground with a powerful quake, the mega pig pokemon leapt into the air with a white fist, he changed direction and chopped down on the powerful rock type pokemon, it fell to the ground after taking the powerful hit, both pokemon fell to the ground panting after the intense battle between them, "you can do it!" Ash and Roxanne yelled out in unison.

"Go Ash, one more attack!" Madeline and Salvia cheered loudly while Ash nodded with certainty, the two powerful pokemon got back up and readied for one more attack, "Go Ash win!" the two girls yelled out at the same time cheering the trainer on.

"Hammer Arm!" Roxanne yelled.

"Brick Break!" Ash yelled out his command.

The two pokemon charged towards one another not flinching, the two attacking pokemon crashed into one another with their attacks connecting at the same time, Emboar and Rhyperior collapsed while the two trainers stared in awe at the two pokemon, it was at that time emboar started to slowly get back to his feet, "I lost," Roxanne admitted her defeat to Ash, she recalled her pokemon from the battle and walked over to Ash with the stone pin in hand, "here Ash, you have earned it, I hope to battle you again," Roxanne said with a smile as she looked over to the girls who were cheering him on in battle.

"Thanks for the battle Roxanne," Ash replied joyously but was still upset about the fact he had battled with his Darkrai.

"Ash I am sorry for swapping the pokeballs over when you didn't notice," Salvia apologized to Ash.

Roxanne shook her head and smiled, "I know what to expect from Ash next time, us master always seek to find the best challenge," Roxanne interrupted the trainer and the princess before they could argue in front of the girl.

"We better get to Devon Corporation," Ash decreed while picking up his partner pokemon.

Salvia looked at the pokeball with guilt, 'I guess I understand Ash less now, I didn't understand that he wanted a challenge,' Salvia thought while walking to the exit of the gym, 'maybe he is better off with me back at the palace,' Salvia thought to herself while exiting with Ash and Madeline waiting for her, "Ash I am going back to the palace," Salvia declared with sadness.

Ash stood with his jaw agape at what he had just heard, he refused to hear what the princess had just said, he watched her walking away, he started to run towards her, grabbing her arm, "why Salvia? Why are you going home?" Ash asked repeatedly in desperation.

"I get the feeling that I don't understand you anymore, I feel like I am getting in your way now," Salvia replied with tears rolling down her face, "you sought a challenge and I felt like I ruined it for you, by swapping pokeballs over," Salvia admitted while Ash tightened his grip on her arm.

"No, Salvia, you didn't ruin the battle, I want you to stay," Ash told his wife with a gentle smile, "stay for me, for Madeline, she looks up to you," Ash said with a proud smile. Salvia tried to admit that everything was going wrong, she couldn't hide the fact that her mental state wasn't up to her standard, "don't worry, I want you here with me, you saved my life, you never got in the way," Ash admitted the truth to Salvia with his desire for her to be around.

"Alright, I will stay, but please help me find my way, I just don't know what to do anymore," Salvia confessed while leaping into the prince's chest and embracing him, "please Ash, do something I am lost," Salvia cried.

"I will do everything in my power," Ash promised his wife with uncertainty, 'great I make a promise and yet I can't save even my mother,' Ash thought while keeping Salvia close to him.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this long chapter, Salvia's mental state is causing her to question whether she is getting in the way or not, but Ash promised to help her, what will he do for her? To make her feel more wanted than she feels now, what will Mr Stone tell Ash? And what of the predetermined battle against Ash and Brendan?**

**Next time episode 67: Mother VS Son 2 the Devon invasion.**


	5. Mother VS Son 2: Devon Invasion

**Episode 67: Mother VS Son 2, the Devon Invasion**

_I feel that the tensions between Ash and Salvia are starting to pick up; perfect I feel that it was about time for that to happen._

* * *

Placing his hand in her long blue hair Ash stroked it gently, "we better see Mr Stone," Ash stated while looking up to the building, he sighed wondering how to make Salvia feel better, but he knew that there wasn't much he could do at this stage of his journey, he had to face Brendan who wasn't as bad as he seems, but was still uneasy about his betrayal of the Hoenn kingdom, he pulled back from the bluenette who seemed to be put back at ease, but kept his attention away from the people and walked towards the large building with hopes of finding out what happened with the men in the red suits.

Ash, Salvia and Madeline walked towards the front counter while the people looked at the young family, "ah Mr Stone has been expecting you, take the elevator on the right to get to his office," the receptionist instructed the trio.

Ash walked towards the elevator while, the main foyer was covered in a red carpet, he looked back at his foster daughter and his Raichu, "Madeline, Raichu, I need you to stay here, Salvia and I will meet with the president," Ash instructed the duo to stay put in the foyer of the building.

Ash and Salvia walked up to the elevator with Madeline and her Tepig staying with the more experienced pokemon Raichu, "come on guys, let's do some exploring, maybe we can sneak to one of the top floors," Madeline said with a curious smile, she snuck to one of the elevators before seeing a man in a royal suit, the elevator opened up before she was spotted, "that's not possible, this place must have something he is after."

While Madeline was doing some exploring of the building Ash leaned back on the wall of the elevator, "Salvia now that we are alone, I would like to ask you a question," Ash told the princess, getting her attention Ash sighed momentarily and gained a stern expression, "you seem to be second guessing yourself, what's going on?" Ash questioned her quietly as the elevator continued to take them to their destination.

Salvia leaned on the back wall next to Ash, "I lost my dad, but it seems to me that you are taking sides with Brendan," Salvia replied quietly while looking at her wedding ring.

"There is a reason for Brendan, it seems you have forgotten about my ability to sense aura," Ash retorted coolly. Ash looked over to Salvia's left hand seeing her playing with her wedding ring, he felt uneasy about it, he wanted to say something but felt it would make things worse, the couple remained quiet with the heaviness of it weighing down on Ash, 'I know I have learned a lot and I have become a better person because of Salvia, I guess it's my turn to help her out, from now on, I will do everything I can to support her,' Ash resolved to himself while coming up with an idea, "hey Salvia, why not do Pokemon Contests again? It is something you do enjoy," Ash suggested with a smile.

Salvia turned her gaze to Ash and gulped for a moment, "but I would be holding you back even more," Salvia commented with sadness.

"Holding me back? Never, I have plenty of time to complete my Master's challenge and I want you to enjoy travelling with me," Ash decreed with a broad smile, he placed his hand over Salvia's hand to prevent her from attempting to remove the ring, "I am here to support you in whatever you decide to do, and I really want you to be a coordinator again," Ash gave his words of support to the princess.

Salvia started to smile again, but was still not certain about what Ash was telling her, "are you sure you want me to do Pokemon Contests?" Salvia questioned her husband with a nervous tone, she pulled out her first two ribbons and clutched them close to her heart.

Ash thumped his chest and started to laugh, "of course, I want you to do something you enjoy," Ash complied with a confident manner.

"Alright, I will do it, I will compete in the next Pokemon Contest," Salvia submitted while Ash grinned proudly, "but if it slows you down then I will stop," Salvia told Ash as he sighed for a moment.

"Stop thinking that you're slowing me down," Ash complained while pulling out his pin case to show off his twelve pins to the royal, "I would never have gotten these without your support," Ash confessed before closing the case, "I only need five more and I will be in the Master's League, but for you, you need to do something that will make you happy," Ash stated as the elevator was grinding to a halt.

The doors opened to reveal a large office with a massive table in the middle made of the finest timber in the region, it was surrounded by three large sofas and at the front was another smaller table with a large swivel chair behind it, Ash and Salvia walked into the room to see many painting on a wall painted blue and the floor covered in bright red carpet, silently looking around in awe at the room that seemed to have taken an entire floor.

Salvia felt like she was in her room again, the size of this place was very similar to her own, "Ash, what do you think the president wants to tell us?" Salvia asked her husband.

The chair turned around to reveal Mr Stone who was concerned about the people that exited the building earlier in the day, "good, you two made it here," the president said with a frown.

"Mr Stone, who were those people?" Ash asked promptly.

The president got out of his chair and walked towards the window, "those people were from another region, they call themselves Team Flare, they wanted to buy my company," Mr Stone replied with sadness.

"But why?" Salvia asked impatiently.

"My company is developing new technology that revives fossil pokemon instantly, they must have caught wind of it," the president decreed with a frown.

"But does it have anything to do with my uncle?" Salvia asked angrily.

Ash looked at his new pokenav and then turned his attention to the president, "no they don't but I do believe that they are taking advantage of the unrest," Ash replied with certainty.

The president nodded with Ash's answer and sat back down on his chair, "they have no interest in what your uncle is doing princess, but it doesn't mean I am not concerned about them," Mr Stone explained his issue with the group of people, "we don't know enough about them, but all I do know is that they are from the Kalos region," the leader of the corporation said while placing his arms on the desk, he leaned his head on the raised hands and started to think about the situation that was unfolding, "we were once getting funds from the Hoenn royal family, but that ceased to happen a year ago, I don't know why, we are only operating on profits we made a while ago, but with this new technology we hope to never rely on help from the Hoenn kingdom," the president explained with a sigh.

"We can help," Salvia replied without thought.

Ash looked over and shook his head, "we shouldn't be so rash," Ash replied with a concerned manner, "Mr Stone, where is Steve, I am sure he is able to help you out," Ash commented with confidence.

The president shook his head, "I haven't seen him since he left to challenge Cynthia, that was a month ago," Mr Stone replied quietly.

"So your son is challenging the best trainers in the world, that doesn't surprise me," Ash proudly replied to Mr Stone's concern, "but there is something else right?" Ash enquired calmly.

The president nodded but before he could respond a large column of smoke appeared outside the window, Ash and Salvia rushed to the window before the building was rocked by a powerful explosion, Ash looked down to see his mother near the entrance of the building, "mom," Ash hissed before spotting the man that has caused all the troubles walking behind her.

"Uncle Chris is here right?" Salvia asked curiously.

Ash nodded and ran towards the elevator, "Salvia, take the president and find Madeline, I have something I need to deal with on my own," Ash instructed the royal sternly.

"Right, come on Mr Stone, I will help you out of this building," Salvia stated while running towards the next elevator with the president behind her, she looked over to Ash who nodded at her, "good luck Ash," she whispered fervently.

"I trust you Salvia," Ash acknowledged while the door started to close slowly to start separating them, "keep the president safe and make sure Madeline leaves with you, Raichu and her Tepig, she should be on the seventh floor," Ash instructed the princess as the door finally closed and started lowering towards the ground floor of the building.

"Come on Mr Stone, we need to find my adopted daughter and then I need to get you out of here," Salvia stated while the other elevator door opened, she walked into the elevator with the president and pressed the button Ash told her to press. The elevator stopped on the floor as the building began to sway from the battle that was raging on the lower floors, Salvia and the president rushed out of the elevator only to see a powerful spark of electricity and a burst of flames emanating from one of the rooms.

"We need to documents in this room, but this stupid little girl is in the way," a man with short brown hair stated while getting pushed out of the room by two more attacks.

"Madeline!" Salvia called out to her foster daughter.

The man looked over to see Salvia and the president of the company approaching them, "the princess and Mr Stone," he hissed knowing that this was about to get a little more difficult.

Salvia pulled out one of her pokeballs, "Mew, it's show time," the bluenette called out her legendary pokemon to battle the person. The small psychic pokemon appeared from the pokeball and readied itself for battle, Salvia ran towards the room to find that Madeline and the two pokemon were standing between a group of two men and a safe.

"I will not let you hurt Ash and Salvia," Madeline claimed while standing her ground, not flinching, courageously fighting alongside the two pokemon that accompanied her, "Tepig, attack with Flamethrower, Raichu attack with Thunderbolt," Madeline instructed the two pokemon in quick succession.

Salvia ran towards Madeline before approaching her a stray water attack pushed the little girl towards the wall knocking her out and cancelling the two attacks, "Madeline!" Salvia screamed out in horror.

The president of the company walked over to her and checked to see if she was alright, "she will be fine," the president decreed with relief.

Salvia turned her attention to the two people that hurt Madeline, "yeah but they will not be fine, Dragonite, Hyper Beam attack!" Salvia called out for her starter dragon type and the attack at the same time. The large dragon powered up a powerful attack and fired a brightly colored beam at the opposing trainers.

'What a reckless move,' the president thought while Salvia ferociously glared at the opposing trainers, 'she was in a gentle state of mind mere moments ago,' the president reminded himself while looking into the angered eyes of the Sinnoh royal.

"You will pay for hurting Madeline, you will suffer my wrath!" Salvia venomously decreed as the men started to step back in fear of the royal, "what's the matter? Scared of the Sinnoh royal?" she asked with a malicious smirk.

Madeline started to stir, she opened her eyes to see Salvia's powerful dragon standing between her and a Vaporeon and a Metang, "Salvia," Madeline called out to the royal softly.

"Don't worry Madeline, I will protect you, but at the same time I will show these guys no mercy," Salvia promised the little girl who watched in shock at what was unfolding in front of her, "Dragonite attack with Thunderbolt," Salvia quickly called for the next attack.

Dragonite charged for the attack, sending out bolts of electricity in every direction except behind it, blowing out windows and sending glass showering down on to the ground, Madeline watched the display of power in awe, she knew that this wasn't the same Salvia that she met in Unova, "Salvia stop this, please," Madeline pleaded she walked over to the princess but was pushed aside getting injured in the process, Madeline winced in pain while Salvia's Dragonite shocked the three men of her uncle's forces, "no Salvia, please," Madeline called over to her foster mother while trying to get back to her feet.

"No little girl, you need to stay put," the president stated while looking over to the princess with concern.

"Now, I will finish you off," Salvia decreed with a dark smile.

The three men collapsed to the ground lifeless from the intense burst of electricity that hit their bodies, Salvia smiled at the three men with a sense of no care in the world what happened to the men, while the two people behind her watched on in horror, 'this isn't the person that adopted me as her daughter,' Madeline thought with fear etched in her eyes.

Salvia turned around her eyes seemed a little darker than usual, she approached the little girl, but she tried to move away from her, "Madeline, what's the matter?" Salvia asked her foster daughter with a frown.

"What did you do?" Madeline replied while grasping her arm which was injured because of Salvia's push.

"I got payback for them hurting you," Salvia replied softly.

Madeline looked at her injured arm and grasped it for a moment, "but you hurt me as well," Madeline replied as she stepped back in fear of Salvia, "you went too far in that battle," Madeline pointed out with tears streaming down her face. Salvia walked up to her but the little girl maintained her fearful outlook on the Sinnoh Royal.

"There is no need to be scared Madeline, I will look after you," Salvia promised the girl while crouching down in front of the little girl with a gentle smile.

Meanwhile Ash was still in the elevator stuck after an attack that came from the higher floors, 'this is just great now I am stuck,' Ash complained while pressing one of the buttons to move the elevator, but there was no movement from the machine, Ash looked up to see a hatch on the ceiling of the elevator, "Lucario, I choose you," Ash called for his fighting pokemon quickly, "I need you to push me up to the ceiling," Ash told his aura pokemon.

The fighting type nodded and put its paws together, allowing the prince to open up the emergency hatch, much to Ash's horror the elevator was jammed as he spotted a spark of electricity destroying one of the cables, one of the cables snapped causing the elevator carriage to start falling slowly, Ash got to the top and recalled his Lucario, "Serpierio, I choose you," Ash called for his grass type pokemon, "use Vine whip to grab the cable," Ash instructed the serpent like pokemon with vigour.

Serperior followed the instructions and grabbed the cable with her vines, Ash leapt onto the grass type and looked at the carriage, "alright cut the cable with Leaf Blade," Ash instructed he grass type quickly. Serperior followed the instructions of Ash faithfully, after cutting the cable the elevator was sent crashing, Ash breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see more bolts of lightning blasting though from all floors, "Darkrai, I need your help," Ash called out his legendary pokemon to assist in the situation, "Serperior lower us to the next door," Ash instructed the grass type silently.

After making it to the slide door Ash looked over to Darkrai and nodded, 'one Dark Pulse on its way,' Darkrai acknowledged, it fired a powerful wave of dark energy at the door blowing it outwards Ash leapt of his pokemon and landed safely, he turned around and recalled the pokemon from the elevator shaft

Ash looked around to find a flight of stairs, "this is a real pain in the ass, it will take me longer to get to the ground floor now," Ash hissed in frustration, he walked down the hall with in hopes that no one else would be around, "they are on all floors, I hope Salvia and Madeline are going alright," Ash whispered. After making it to the end of the hall way he turned a corner and found a fire emergency stairway, he tried to open it but was unsuccessful, he called out his Lucario again to deal with the door, "open the door with Metal Claw," Ash instructed the aura pokemon with great urgency.

Lucario slash at the door causing it to fall to pieces, Ash quickly recalled the fighting type and ran down the steps, ignoring all doorways he finally made it to the last step and slightly pushed open the door, at the other end of the room he spotted Chris and Brendan with his mother, "that's right we are after the item that is being created in this very building," Chris stated with a smirk while walking up to the front desk.

"The invention, so that's why he is here, but how did he know about it?" Ash questioned himself with a concerned tone, Ash looked over to the an area next to him and spotted a group of pot plants, he snuck out the door and sped towards the pot plants and hid behind them, "okay, so I need to find a way of stopping them," Ash assumed while crouching down.

Knowing that he was out numbered he started to think of a plan, he knew that Brendan was going to battle him do to his plan, but Chris was also highly trained as well, but wasn't certain of the abilities of his mother in battle, 'I haven't faced my mother since Unova, I bet she is a lot stronger as well,' Ash thought while remembering the first battle he had against his mother, 'I bet she doesn't know she will be a grandmother later this year,' Ash reminded himself while fighting back his sorrow.

"Yes Uncle Chris I will begin my search for the device," Brendan stated while running to the stairway, he looked over to the pot plants and bowed his head, 'good luck Ash,' Brendan thought while running up the steps.

'You to Brendan,' Ash thought while turning around to find an opening to separate his mother from Chris.

"Darkrai, it's time to strike back," Ash called out the pitch black pokemon.

"So your son wants to interfere again, so be it Delia deal with your son," Chris instructed the woman.

"Yes Master Chris," Delia replied robotically.

"Geez Chris, you sure are unoriginal, pit my mother against me, using her to try and make me surrender my wife, like that would ever happen," Ash told the man behind the woman, the dark type pokemon stood between Ash and the brunette.

"You have no choice Ash, I can make you do my bidding because I have control over your mother," Chris replied with a devious smirk.

"About that, I don't think that will work, I have decided a while ago, that I will fight for Salvia and the Sinnoh Kingdom, since you control my mother, she is the enemy of the region, so I have no problems battling her," Ash stated while laughing at the man who thought he had it all figured out, Ash picked his next pokeball and called out his Lucario again.

"What, you will not hesitate to fight even your own mother, fine then she is of no use to me anymore, you know that collar, well let's say I no longer have her hypnotised, but instead that collar is a bomb," Chris declared while Ash stood in shock at what was going on, "and since you no longer care for your mother, I might as well dispose of her here and now Chris stated while Ash glared at the man, he charged towards the woman who started crying at her son.

Ash grabbed the collar with jolts of electricity coursing through his body, "Ash, I am sorry," Delia cried while her son did everything he could to remove the collar, it was then he saw a group of numbers ticking down.

At the same time people were running out of the building after discovering that the device was a bomb, they ran away from the building as fast as possible not wanting to get caught in the explosion.

"Mom, keep quiet," Ash instructed the woman as he tried to stretch the collar but to no avail, "damn you Chris you had this all planned out since Johto didn't you?" Ash asked his uncle.

"Well I will stop the counter, but I think you should battle her and lose," Chris demanded with a smirk.

"If I win?" Ash asked back with a venomous expression.

"Well, you fail to save her, what will it be Ash, lose against your mother, who wasn't under my hypnotic control since we reached this region or win and the only thing left of her will be a memory," Chris explained the situation to Ash, "either way you will fail in saving your mother," Chris pointed out with a dark grin.

"Ash, do what you need to do, go Heatmor," Delia called out a bipedal, anteater-like Pokémon. It has a beige face while the rest of its fur is red with yellow stripes sharing appearance of molten lava. On its lower abdomen, back, and underside are raised, beige colored bands which resemble pipes. "Attack with Flamethrower," Delia instructed the fire type.

Ash clenched his fists in anger while Chris talked into a phone, "Darkrai attack with, Dark Pulse, no holding back," Ash instructed his legendary pokemon.

"So that's how it is for you, how sad that you would allow your own mother to die," Chris stated while pressing the button to recommence the count down on the collar.

Ash watched the man walk out of the building leaving his mother to her fate, "mom, I am sorry," Ash said while her fire type was knocked out in one hit from the Dark Pulse.

"Don't be sorry Ash, I am still proud of you," Delia replied while her son approached her, "what are you doing Ash?" Delia asked while another powerful current coursed through his body, they both screamed out in pain.

"Mom, I don't give up on family, I let Salvia down with her father, so there is no way I am going to let that happen again," Ash said while resisting the electric shocks, "plus Raichu zaps harder than this little shock," Ash commented while trying with all his might, but there was still no success in him pulling the device off. Even after the amount of volts coursing through his body Ash fell to the ground exhausted from the constant shocking he was getting, panting while punching the ground with tears rolling down his face, "damn you Chris, how dare you make this a game, I will make you suffer for this," Ash decreed while feeling his mother's hands in his hair.

"Don't worry Ash, no matter what I am always proud of you," Delia told her son while, "so are you married to Salvia yet?" Delia asked her son with a warm smile.

"Yes mom I am proudly married to her, better yet, you're also going to be a grandmother as well," Ash replied with a smile as Delia walked passed her son and towards the stairway, "mom, I am really sorry," Ash said softly not noticing Salvia and Madeline watching from outside.

"Also Ash don't forget to change your underwear," Delia gave her final instructions before being consumed by a blinding flash of light; Ash was pushed back towards the wall.

After the explosion the young prince got up slowly to see his two pokemon resting on the ground injured from the explosion, he walked over to the pokemon blood stream from his arms and the left side of his mouth, he looked around again with no signs of his mother's body, "Mom no!" Ash cried out while punching the ground with all his might, he punched it harder and harder until the insides of his palms bleed from the tightness of his fists, he collapsed to the ground crying from the loss of his mother, "Chris, I vow this, I will end this soon, I will send you straight to hell where you belong!" Ash yelled out in anger as another explosion was heard from another floor.

Hearing this Ash quickly recalled his pokemon and rushed towards the exit, as if on cue Salvia called out her Dragonite and opened up the doors by force Ash ran out as more explosions were heard from the building, Salvia placed her hand on Ash's shoulder and started to let out her own tears of sorrow, Ash, Salvia and Madeline along with the president watched the building fall to the ground while the four people watched on helplessly.

Salvia looked on with an angered expression, as she started to tighten her grip on the prince's shoulder, "um Salvia that kind of hurts," Ash commented while wincing in pain.

Shaking in anger Salvia could no longer take it, "come on Ash, we need to get revenge," Salvia decreed while looking at the rubble.

"Not in the shape I am in, I need to recover," Ash said while hurting all over, 'mom, thanks for everything, I will move forward with my life, something you would want me to do,' Ash thought while mourning the loss of his last remaining family member.

The president walked up to the building with sadness knowing that everything was lost due to Chris' actions, "well I guess I have to rebuild," Mr Stone submitted sadly.

"We will help, but you won't be getting funds from the Hoenn kingdom, instead you will be getting them from Sinnoh," Ash promised calmly while slowly standing up and limping towards the street, he grasped his left side and looked up, 'Chris, I am going to finish you off soon,' Ash promised himself while walking away from the destroyed building .

* * *

**The chapter ends with the destruction of Mr Stone's building and his business, the death of Ash's mother and the swearing of revenge from Ash, how will this go down? And will Salvia be able to keep her anger in check after the loss of yet another important person?**

**Next time Episode 68: Returning to the stage.**

**After this chapter the next 13 chapters will lead up to the Mini-Saga, a mini-saga that will change the landscape of a few things.**

_**AN**__: also if anyone took offense to the events in the last part of the chapter, I do apologise, I had this part played out in my mind for the last 6 months and you know today in America is the 12__th__ anniversary of that horrible attack, again sorry if anyone took offense to that part, I don't mean it to emulate that event. _


	6. Returning to the Stage

**Episode 68: Returning to the stage**

_Time to get the next thirteen chapters rolling, I mean chapters leading to the earthshattering Mini-Saga, from this chapter and towards episode 80 we will be building up to that saga, please enjoy. Also the last chapter had pretty much the last character death._

* * *

It had been two weeks since the attack on Devon Corporation, Ash, Salvia and Madeline were recovering from the attack which left them battered and bruised, Ash got up and walked out of the room and towards the main foyer of the Pokemon Center, he was still reeling from the loss of his mother, all due to Chris and his supposed games, feeling guilty Ash ignored the people who were talking and left Salvia and Madeline to their own designs, he walked out of the medical facility on his own, not paying attention to the people walking on the pathways, he walked towards the fallen building where his mother sacrificed herself for her son, "in the end I still couldn't save my mother," Ash reminded himself guiltily as he picked up some of the rubble that was in front of his feet, 'mom, I will not give up because of what happened, I will still make you proud and win the Master's Challenge, just five more pins to go,' Ash pledged while tightening his fist.

"I thought I would find you here," a familiar voice called over to the prince.

"Salvia, we are leaving for Verdanturf Town," Ash said in a stern manner, he turned around and walked up to Salvia while Madeline had finally caught up to the couple, Ash looked over his shoulder again and nodded at the scene, "no time for us to dwell on this, I will continue to make my family proud," Ash commented while walking towards the north eastern exit of the city.

Salvia and Madeline walked behind the trainer, until they spotted the tree line and a large hill, Salvia looked up to the hill then dropped her gaze to the ground, 'Ash, is moving forward even after the loss of his mother, he promised to make her proud no matter what, but what of me?' Salvia asked herself while clenching her fists in anger. "Ash, I have decided to compete in the pokemon contests," Salvia decreed with a smile.

"That's good to hear," Ash replied happily.

"You know I am still out of practice, I haven't done contest since Kanto," Salvia stated while remembering her last contest where she competed against her royal guard Alex, 'last time Ash was kicked out of the building,' Salvia reminded herself as she walked slowly towards Ash and Madeline.

While walking towards a cave a green pokemon with red and blue rose in each hand skipped in front of the traveling group, "hey princess, why not capture that Roselia, it would be perfect for you to compete with," Ash called over to the bluenette cheekily.

Salvia sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I give up, you will never stop calling me by my title," Salvia complained while picking one of her pokeballs to start to battle against, Salvia's Dragonite got ready to battle against the plant type pokemon, "Dragonite attack with Ice Beam," Salvia instructed her experienced pokemon. The dragon unleashed an icy beam on the grass type pokemon knocking it out in one move.

Ash chuckled as his wife threw a pokeball at the grass type, 'gee, she could have taken the time to find out what moves Roselia knows,' Ash thought while the capture of the opposing pokemon was made official. Ash walked up to the princess while she picked up her pokeball, "you know Salvia, you could have taken some time to see what moves Roselia knows, I guess I will have to use my Pokedex to find out for you," Ash complained while taking the pokeball, he opened up his pokedex to scan to the pokeball containing the recently captured pokemon, "let's see what we have here," Ash thought to himself.

'I didn't know pokedexes could be used in this fashion,' Madeline thought while Ash looked at the information on the device.

"Ah, not too bad, it seems this Roselia can use these moves, Petal Dance, Magical Leaf, Weather Ball, which is odd, since Roselia don't normally learn Weather Ball, and also Sludge Bomb," Ash explained the moveset to the princess with a smile, he removed the red and white device from the pokedex and returned it to the princess, "hold on a second, I might have something that will help you," Ash stated while removing his backpack.

Salvia watched as her husband started to take, she started to scratched her head wondering what Ash was doing, "Ash, what are you doing?" Salvia questioned curiously.

"Oh man, I know I have it here somewhere," Ash ignored the question as he pulled out item after item, eventually he pulled a bright stone with a yellow centrepiece, "the Shiny Stone, an item that can evolve your Roselia into a powerful Roserade," Ash said while showing the evolutionary stone to the bluenette.

_(On a boat towards the Sinnoh Region)_

Dawn stood at the front of the massive ship, thinking about everything that had happened, she thought about the day she found out about Ash and Salvia being married, "you know Piplup, I just don't get it, I thought I would be happy for Ash, but, in reality, I was just shocked to hear it," Dawn told her starter pokemon.

_(Flashack)_

Paul walked up to Dawn who was sitting on the beachhead of the Unova region, "I knew I would find you here, why did you walk out after hearing that Ash is married into royalty?" Paul asked but Dawn continued to ignore him, looking out towards the ocean.

"I don't know Paul, I was wondering the exact same thing, maybe I made a mistake a few years ago, maybe I never really moved on like Ash did," Dawn replied while moving her left hand towards the sand, she clenched her hand and hit the sand, "i guess I am a fool," Dawn berated herself while Paul kept his distance from Dawn.

"I guess I failed as a boyfriend," Paul chuckled while turning around to see the group walking around, "you know Dawn, I can tell just by reading your body language, you're still in love with him," Paul stated while watching Ash and Salvia walking happily together for the first time in six months, "but I believe you should be careful, you don't want to break those two up, they are genuinely happy," Paul instructed Dawn with a smirk.

"I know, but I don't want to sit back, without telling Ash how I feel," Dawn replied while grabbing some sand, she dropped almost every grain of sand and looked at her hand, she removed the rest of the sand from her hand and started to sigh, 'I just don't know, I thought I would be happy with Paul, but over time, I just don't know anymore,' Dawn thought while not even daring to give Paul eye contact.

_(Return from Flashback)_

"I am still in Hoenn waters, I need to head back to Hoenn, if I don't I will regret it,' Dawn thought while rushing towards the life boats and jumped on, she waited for her Piplup to jump on before lowering it into the water, 'I don't care, but I will stay by Ash no matter what, even if he is married to the princess,' Dawn thought with a determined expression.

The boat hit the water and she started to row towards the shore on her own, not realising that she was heading towards danger in Slateport City, 'I still love Ash, and there is no way I can erase that feeling," Dawn told herself while rubbing away her tears she continued to row the boat towards the shore line, not thinking about the possible danger she was putting herself in, the water was calm and the sky blue, there was gentle breeze coming from the south.

After making onto the shore line Dawn jumped out of the small boat and walked across the beach, it was until she met up with Alex who was keeping an eye on the situation, "is that Salvia? What is she doing here?" Alex asked himself as he ran over to the person he thought was the princess. After approaching the girl he had an angered expression, "Salvia, I thought you were told by the king to stay with Ash," Alex told the young woman with a frown.

"I am sorry, but my name isn't Salvia, my name is Dawn and I want to meet up with Ash and Salvia," Dawn replied with a shocked expression.

"A look alike well Salvia did say something about you," Alex said with a smile.

"Why was it that Salvia had to stay by Ash at all times?" Dawn asked the royal guard with an uneasy tone.

"Because, Chris is trying to lead Ash and the future queen of Sinnoh into a trap, you look like the princess, so that would place you in danger," Chris replied while turning his attention to the city.

"I want to make sure that those two will be fine, I am doing it because I…." Dawn started before she thought about her next words carefully, "I am here to make sure that those two don't get into any trouble," Dawn stated half-heartedly as she continued to come up with an answer to the royal guard, "but I thought you were a traitor to the Sinnoh Kingdom," Dawn pointed out while walking ahead of the man.

"It was a ruse, I needed to gather information on Chris, my brother Colin and I have been serving the Sinnoh Kingdom for fifteen years," Alex replied to Dawn's concern.

"Ash and Salvia asked me to be their royal guard, but I don't think I am strong enough to serve them," Dawn decreed with sorrow, she looked back at her pokemon and at Paul's pokeballs, "I was ready to run away, but I realised so much during my attempt at running away, but now I need to go forward," Dawn openly admitted with great determination. Dawn walked towards the city with her own determination, but wanted to find a way of help Ash and Salvia, 'I will do what I can for the both of them, they chose me to be their royal guard, and I will not let them down,' Dawn thought while her blue hair whipped around in the tropical breeze.

_(Near Verdanturf Town)_

Ash, Salvia and Madeline started to walk through the cave with Salvia staring at the Shiny Stone, thinking about evolving her recently caught grass type pokemon, but her thoughts continued to change towards the moment Ash's mother sacrificed herself for the safety of her son, she knew Ash was still hurting, but also felt that Ash was still going to make his mother proud, 'Ash, has gotten stronger since the start of our journey,' Salvia thought while dawdling behind her husband.

The walk continued through the cave until they made it half way, Ash looked over to his partner pokemon and the two girls, "we will stop here for now, I want to think about something," Ash stated while sitting down with his Raichu next to him.

"Why are we stopping? We aren't far away from the town," Salvia asked the prince with an impatient tone.

Madeline walked over to Ash and sat next to him, "I forgive Salvia, I am still a little scared of the way she has been recently, it isn't like her," Madeline informed her foster father with concern, she turned her attention to Salvia who continued to stare at the shiny stone with intent.

"I know Madeline, I was thinking the same thing, but I am certain that she will be just fine," Ash replied with a confident grin.

Ash stood up and walked towards the princess calmly, at the same time Madeline was looking towards the exit with an air of uncertainty, 'yeah I know Ash, but Salvia killed three men from her uncles forces in cold blood, we were lucky that Brendan helped us out before we were caught by Chris' army,' Madeline thought while remembering Salvia glaring at the Hoenn royal, 'she wouldn't accept his help, she called out her Dragonite and flew us out of the building before sending an attack towards the Hoenn prince,' Madeline pictured the attack by the princess on the building.

"Come on Madeline, we are going to watch Salvia compete in a Contest," Ash excitedly decreed as Salvia followed on with a nervous nod of the head.

"I don't know Ash, I haven't done a contest in a while, I might be out of practice," Salvia acknowledged quietly.

"You will be fine, you have an awesome pokemon that can help you in your contests," Ash replied with a confident grin as he placed his hand on the princess' shoulder and smiled at her in a assuring manner.

Ash led the girls and the pokemon to the cave's exit, they looked around to see the small town in a grass field and a Contest hall in the middle of the town, the flower gardens dotting the town and trainers at the front of the contest hall preparing for the contest, "I am not sure if I am ready for this Ash," Salvia commented nervously, she looked at her recently caught Roselia wondering what to do next, her hands were shaking and she began to shiver feeling like even more pressure was being placed on her shoulders.

"Salvia, just go out there and enjoy yourself," Ash reminded the Sinnoh Royal with a gentle grin.

After waiting in the hall for Salvia to register her name for the contest Ash looked around and spotted a familiar face, a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a red dress, with black knee length socks, sleeveless shirt and shoes and a pink hat, "no way, is that Serena? When did she get here?" Ash wondered while walking up to the lady he remembered.

"Alright, time to try these contests out," She thought out loud while turning around to see Ash standing with girl, "I can't believe it, Ash is here," Serena stated in shock, she quickly ran up to the trainer glad to see him after many years of separation, "it's been a while Ash," Serena said while playfully grinning at the prince.

"Yeah, it has been a very long time Serena, how have you been?" Ash replied quietly.

"Oh you know, I have been travelling for a while on my own, I wanted to see the pokemon contests, so I came here a few months ago," Serena explained as a bluenette walked up to Ash's side, "oh wow Ash, you lucky dog, you got yourself a nice girl," Serena teased the trainer unbeknownst to her about what was really going on.

"Serena, I want you to meet the Princess of Sinnoh and my wife Salvia," Ash introduced the royal to the Kalos trainer.

"What, no way, I don't believe you," Serena replied in shock, but was still unable to grasp about what was happening, "well it seems like the contest is about to begin, I will be participating as well," Serena decreed while walking away from the trio, 'I don't believe this Ash, is married into royalty,' Serena said while looking back to see Ash supporting his wife in her endeavour to win this contest, 'I envy you princess, you're really lucky to have someone like Ash, I guess I missed out big time,' Serena reminded herself while taking a picture of herself and Ash out of her pocket, 'I remember the day before I left Pallet Town, I really missed you Ash,' Serena said with guilt as she started to smile.

"So Ash who was that woman, it seems like you know each other," Salvia and Madeline asked the trainer with a look of disdain.

"She is an old friend from the days before I started out as a trainer, her name is Serena, she moved to the Kalos region and now she is travelling the world," Ash explained everything about his friend.

"Wow dad, you seem to have a lot of friends," Madeline commented while looking over to the young woman with long blonde hair.

Salvia clenched her fist feeling angry at Ash for having another friend who was a girl, "an old friend? You say that, but what about me?" Salvia questioned the trainer while walking passed the prince.

Ash grabbed his wife's hand, and stared into her eyes for a moment, 'again with that dark stare, this isn't like her,' Ash thought while loosening his grip on Salvia's wrist, "you're my wife and nothing will change that," Ash replied with certainty, he finally let go of Salvia's right wrist and watched her walking over to the coordinator's lounge.

"Ash is she alright, I can sense this cold air around her," Serena asked the prince.

"It has been like that since her father died, I just didn't want to say something," Ash replied to his friend an air of uncertainty.

"Oh come on Ash, this isn't like my old friend in Pallet Town, but I guess you will find the answer," Serena told the trainer trying to pick him up.

"Thanks Serena, I guess even after you moved away, you still know what to say," Ash commented while Serena pulled out her pokeball.

"Hey Ash, why don't you have this pokemon, it isn't really my style of pokemon," Serena told Ash while the prince took the pokeball.

"Thanks Serena, but this pokemon belongs to you," Ash stated while refusing the pokemon, but Serena insisted and gave him the pokeball anyway, "what pokemon is it?" Ash asked curiously.

"A pokemon from the Kalos region, in fact it is quite rare as well," Serena told Ash before hearing her name being called over the PA system, "I will tell you later, I guess it's time for me to compete," Serena stated before rushing off towards the main stage.

Ash and Madeline walked over to the stage to watch the contest, Ash knew Serena was a talented trainer, but he wasn't sure about the contest arena, but he felt that Salvia was going to have a really strong challenge, knowing that Serena was going to have pokemon people had never seen before. Taking his seat Ash and his adopted daughter looked out to see Serena standing confidently on the stage, the crowd cheered with anticipation hoping to see something different.

Serena pulled out her pokeball and called out a pokemon that has always been seen in the Hoenn region, 'sadly I gave Ash my only Kalos pokemon, but that doesn't matter, I am here to capture pokemon from other regions,' Serena thought while noticing Salvia watching from the curtains of the contest stage, "Beautifly use Attract, the follow it up with Silver Wind," Serena instructed her pokemon.

Beautifly spun around while surrounding itself with hearts, then finishing the combination with a well-timed Silver Wind, "time to end this with Morning Sun," Serena proclaimed, the bug type started to radiate with the heat of the sun illuminating the display from behind causing the crowd to applaud the new coordinator.

Ash started to chuckle as he watched his old friend leaving the stage. "I should have known, Serena is a lot like me, able to adapt to any challenge," Ash whispered to himself.

Serena walked over to Salvia and nodded, "good luck Salvia," Serena wished the princess while extending her hand out to shake it, Serena looked into her eyes for a moment and noticed a darkness emanating from the royal, 'Ash is right, I might have only met this woman, but I can alreay tell that she is far more serene than this,' Serena thought to herself while Salvia walked away from Ash's childhood friend.

'I will succeed no matter what, even if it means defeating Ash's friends one by one,' Salvia told herself with a determined expression. As the young royal walked out she noticed Ash and Madeline watching from the crowd, ready to return to the contest stage Salvia pulled out her pokeball ready to call out her pokemon.

Meanwhile in Slateport City Dawn was watching the contest with great eagerness, she proudly watched her doppelganger taking the stage ready to get back into the contest for the first time in years, "hey Alex look, the princess is competing in a contest," Dawn called over to the royal guard with a smile.

"Really so Lady Salvia is getting back to something she enjoys doing, I bet Ash had something to do with this," Alex commented with a joyous grin.

Dawn placed her hands on her lap clenching them into fists, 'Ash was able to encourage her to compete, I might be too late for one thing but I will be her rival, I will compete in contests from this day forward,' Dawn told herself before rushing out of the house with Piplup in her arms, she ran off before Alex could catch up to her, knowing that putting herself in danger would cause her mother and Ash to worry, "giving up is no longer an option, even if I cannot be with Ash I will make sure Ash and Salvia succeed, I will be their royal guard just as they asked me," Dawn promised herself while running through the city on her own.

"Damn, she got away, I hope Ash and Lady Salvia can forgive me," the royal guard told himself while packing his stuff up, he turned to the TV to see the princess making her performance in front of the live audience, "Colin my brother, I hope you come her soon, I will need all the help I can get," Alex said as he switched off the television set while Salvia started her performance, 'good luck Salvia,' Alex thought as he rushed out of the building to chase after Dawn to make sure she wasn't getting into any danger, 'as reckless as Ash.'

"Roserade, use Sunny Day," Salvia instructed her pokemon to start the appeals round, the bluenette nodded knowing it was time to begin the next stage of her appeals, "now use Magical Leaf followed by Weather Ball," the princess instructed her newly caught grass type pokemon.

After the stage began to illuminate with the radiance of the sun, the royal's pokemon unleashed a flurry of leaves into the air before firing a ball of fire into the center causing the embers to fall to the ground around, the bright display hide a certain amount of aggression from the royal who smirked at the display while picturing the woman who she had recently met, "and the Sinnoh royal is still at her best," the MC declared while the embers cleared up from the arena.

Ash humbly smiled at his wife, "not bad my princess," Ash commented while watching the bluenette walking towards the lounge, "come on Madeline," Ash told his foster daughter, he led her to the lounge for the competitors hoping to wish her luck.

Ash and Madeline walked through the hall before hearing an argument between two girls echoing through the halls, "that sounds like Salvia," Madeline acknowledged.

"And the other sounds like Serena, come on Madeline," Ash said with concern, "Raichu separate them with Thunderbolt," Ash instructed his starter pokemon.

"Ash is my husband, stay away from him!" Salvia scowled at the blonde before jumping away from a jolt of electricity.

"I told you already, I am only Ash's childhood friend, is that so wrong?" Serena defended herself with a concerned expression. She also jumped away from the jolt of electricity, she looked over to her childhood friend with a sigh, 'I am glad Ash came here, I don't think Salvia would have held back if he didn't show up,' Serena thought while looking over to the screen to see her face appear on the main screen, with Salvia near the end, 'great, I guess I will be facing her in the final if I reach that far,' Serena stated while concerning herself with the contest, 'the best way I can find out what is going on is to face the princess in the final round,' Serena told herself, she walked over to the princess and extended out her hand with a grin, "may the best coordinator win," Serena stated while Salvia looked away.

Ash and Madeline witness the grown situation and began to sigh, Raichu was feeling a little uneasy, but was kind of hoping that the two girls would settle down, "come Salvia, Serena is trying to be a good sport," Ash informed the royal with a concerned manner, he walked over to Salvia's side and tried to comfort her, he placed his hand on her shoulder only for to be slapped away, he gazed into Salvia's eyes and it seemed much darker in his view, 'just what is going on, this isn't like her, where is that brightness that came from her eyes?' Ash wondered while watching his wife sit down on her own.

"Ash can I have a word with you for a moment?" Serena whispered while walking away from the room.

"Madeline, keep an eye on Salvia, I will be back in a moment," Ash silently told the little girl, he walked towards the exit, before leaving the room he gazed over his shoulder and began to lament over the situation, the chance to rest was now, but felt like Salvia wasn't completely enjoying herself, he was also thinking about what his old friend was going to tell him, "what is it Serena?" Ash asked the young woman.

* * *

**With Salvia back on the contest stage with a new rival, two old friends will be making their return into the picture, as the events continue to lead to the mini-saga. Next time the conclusion of the Verdanturf Contest.**

**Who will win this contest? What is the pokemon that Serena gave Ash? And what will Serena tell Ash?**

**Next time episode 69: the broken past.**

_Sorry this one took so long, I have been rather busy as of late, but with information about the games coming out, I will be starting to incorporate some of the X/Y generation into the story._


	7. Broken Past

**Episode 69: The Broken Past.**

_With Salvia returning to the contests, how will she go in the next stage as she battles her way towards her first ribbon in a long time? Read and find out ladies and gentleman._

* * *

Serena leaned back on the wall, crossing her arms wondering what was going on, she looked over towards the other end of the hall with a concerned expression, "I have been thinking about something Ash, the princess, she seems like a kind gentle person, but she isn't acting like that, it seems like her kind and gentle character isn't there to be seen," Serena explained her observations to Ash.

Ash lowered his vision knowing that his old friend was right about the problem his wife was going through, "I know, it has been since her father died, the prince of Hoenn betrayed her," Ash stated with a frown, he looked over to the coordinator's lounge and started to wonder why his wife was acting up, "I want to help her, but she will not open up," Ash pointed out while looking at the pokeball that was given to him.

Serena watched as her friend started walking off towards the crowd, "Ash, what will you do to save her?" Serena asked the raven haired prince.

"Whatever it takes to save her, she will be the mother of my child and is the foster mother of Madeline," Ash replied, he walked away quietly with the pokeball in hand.

Watching the prince leave the area, the Kalos native started to wonder more about what was going, she noted the determined expression in her old friends eyes, 'I have never seen him so determined, but that has to be expected his wife isn't herself,' Serena reminded herself she started walking towards the stage after her name was called out, "alright, I must not lose, I need to battle Salvia, I need to find out the extent of the problem," Serena told herself while hearing the cheers of the crowd.

The excited crowd waited for the first combatants, first up was Serena with her pokemon native to the Kalos region, she looked around and spotted Ash and Madeline sitting amongst the crowd, next up was a teen coordinator, with red hair, wearing a black suit, "well what do we have here, it seems like I am battling a cute one," the coordinator stated with a smirk.

"I am not interested, I already have someone at home waiting for me," Serena replied calmly as she held out her pokeball.

"Go Gabite," the young man called out his pokemon to battle the young woman.

The woman smiled for a moment and shook her head, "you know dragons have a weakness right?" Serena asked the young man.

"Yeah ice and dragon types," the teen replied confidently.

"Go Gardevoir, it's show time," Serena called for her psychic pokemon. "there is something you should know about Gardevoir, it is a part type pokemon," Serena told the teenager with a confident smile.

"Oh no, it seems like Serena is taking this seriously," Ash commented while keeping an eye on the mostly white pokemon with a green head, arms and red eyes, 'what is she talking about, I thought Gardevoir was just a psychic type pokemon, is there something I don't know?' Ash wondered as he watched the dragon land an attack on the embrace pokemon, much to everyone's surprise the attack caused no damage to the psychic pokemon.

"I wonder if you figured it out yet, well I think I should tell you, the reason why Gabite's dragon claw didn't work was because Gardevoir is also a fairy type pokemon," Serena explained while the teen in front of her grew infuriated by this new development, "and fairy types take no damage from dragon types," Serena clarified the situation to the opposing coordinator, "use Fairy Wind," Serena called for the attack on the dragon type opponent.

A vicious wind billowed from the embrace pokemon causing the dragon fell back taking immense damage from the attack, "what's going on?" the boy asked with a shocked expression.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, fairy type attacks can deal immense damage to dragon types," Serena indulged in the teen's curiosity.

"Gabite is unable to battle, what a powerful game changer this is," the MC yelled out while the fans started cheering for Serena.

Meanwhile Salvia watching the display stared in awe at what had happened, "so Ash's friend is also a powerful trainer," Salvia commented, she sat and watched the other six coordinators going at their battles, waiting for her turn to battle, it was then she was approached by Serena who was confident of Salvia performing well, "what do you want Serena?" Salvia asked the rival.

"I want you to use Roserade," Serena replied with a warm smile, "try using a poison type attack on Roserade," Serena informed Salvia.

"Why are you telling me this?" Salvia asked the fellow coordinator.

"Maybe that's because, I want you to know how to combat fairy type pokemon," Serena replied with a confident nod.

Salvia was eventually called out for her battle against the next person, 'I am so nervous,' Salvia though to herself, she walked down the hall and saw a figure standing at the end, smiling at her, she gulped and squinted her eyes for a moment, "dad, is that you?" Salvia asked the figure, but the apparition vanished as she got closer to it, she entered the stage and looked back, she wondered what was going on.

"My brother fought a cutie today and now, I get to battle another good looking girl," a male coordinator remarked with a smile, he flicked his brown hair and called out his Marowak into a battle.

"My husband is in the crowd, just for those comments, I am not going to show you any mercy," Salvia replied as she called out her Roserade into the battle.

"Oh no Salvia isn't in a good mood," Ash said while placing his head in his hand.

"Roserade, attack with Petal Dance," Salvia issued her instructions with great strength, the grass type pokemon unleashed a colorful barrage of flower petals hitting the ground type pokemon, the grass type danced around the middle of the battlefield sending more petals towards the ground type pokemon, "this battle is over," Salvia remarked as the grass type ended the attack, Salvia spotted the opposing pokemon fall to the ground out of the battle, Salvia quickly recalled her pokemon and walked back without shaking hands with the opponent.

Ash looked down towards Madeline and rushed down towards the coordinator's lounge with the girl following close behind, "Ash, what's the matter?" Madeline questioned her foster father.

Ash ignored the question and entered in coordinator's lounge he looked over to Salvia who was sitting casually on her own seat, "what was that about? Sure you beat the young man easily, but the least you could have done is shook his hand," Ash enquired but the princess was too busy taking care of her pokemon. Ash noticed the dark eyes of Salvia and began to think about everything that had happened before they made it to the regions, "are you listening to me?" Ash asked but all he could hear was Salvia muttering to herself, 'she has never done that before, what the hell is going on?' Ash asked himself while noticing Salvia was sleeping on the seat, "Madeline, take Darkrai's pokeball," Ash instructed the little girl.

"But why?" Madeline asked in shock.

"Don't ask, just do it!" Ash replied in anger.

"Sorry, I will do as you say," Madeline replied, she took the pokeball and walked out of the lounge with Raichu beside her, "you know, I have never seen Ash snap back like that," Madeline stated before being approached by Serena who was just as concerned as she was, "dad's friend," Madeline said with a tone of surprise.

"Dad, I guess he was telling the truth about adopting you," Serena said with a proud smile, "Ash replied in anger, because he might be finding out what is going on," Serena stated while looking at the pokeball in Madeline's hand, "I felt it when I was watching the battle, in fact I saw Salvia call out to someone, but the person wasn't there, her father," Serena proclaimed causing Madeline to stare in shock.

"Her father died during the war in Unova, apart from her mother, Ash and I, we are the only family she has left," Madeline explained with a saddened tone, she looked down at the trainer's Raichu and started to wonder if everything was alright, "I bet my father has told you about everything that has happened," Madeline stated while grasping her right arm, she flashbacked at the moment she was hurt by the princess, thinking if the princess was herself or not, "she isn't normally like this Serena, she is usually so serene, graceful, caring and most of all would never hurt a soul," Madeline explained the good traits of the royal, "all the things I look up to her for, while my foster father, I look up to for strength and wisdom," Madeline stated while looking back to see no one exiting the coordinator's lounge, "just like those two, I know what it's like to lose a mother and father," Madeline explained with tears rolling down her face.

"I see," Serena said while kneeling down in front of the girl, "don't ever give up on Ash and Salvia, I will also help out as much as possible, my boyfriend in the Kalos region will understand that my friend also needs help," Serena said with broad smile. It was then over the PA that Serena's name was called out, she turned towards the tunnel and walked towards center stage, she looked back and nodded at Madeline, "how about it, I become your friend, one that will help the other two out," Serena promised while leaving the young girl to wonder what to do next.

Ash was calling out to Salvia, but there was still no response from the young woman, "what the heck is going on? She keeps muttering certain words, it's like she is in pain," Ash asked out loud, he placed his hand on the young woman and tried to wake, "Salvia, wake up," Ash called out to but still to no avail.

"Dad, please come back to mom and me," Salvia pleaded while tears started rolling down her face.

Ash turned to see Madeline approaching him, "any luck?" Madeline asked but Ash shook his head for a moment.

In an instant Salvia got back up and looked around, her saddened expression remained, "the more I sleep, the more depressed I get, I don't what to do anymore, I am so weak," the bluenette commented while looking up to see Serena complete her battle easily against a trainer with a Breloom, "your friend is really strong, maybe she is better suited for you than me," Salvia commented while standing up, as she walked away Ash grasped on to her wrist, "why are you holding on to me wrist?" the princess asked with an emotionless expression.

Ash moved his hand and grasped the bluenette's hand he placed his fingers between hers and smiled, "I will never let you leave, I will help you not matter what," Ash promised with a proud grin.

Salvia forced Ash to let go of her hand and walked out to face her next opponent, "watch my battle please Ash, I need your support, I cannot see in this dark place," Salvia professed while exiting the coordinator's lounge room.

Ash stared at the ground and started to think more about his wife's attitude, "come on Madeline, we should watch the battle," Ash called over to the young girl, the two walked out of the room to watch the battle against Salvia and the opposing coordinator.

A woman with long black hair stood ready to face the princess in battle, "Roserade, it's time to take the show," Salvia called out her grass type pokemon to face the opposing trainer.

"Alright, go Beedrill," the woman called out her yellow and black bee like pokemon to face Salvia in battle.

Ash took the seat closest to the battle with Madeline; they waited for the battle to begin, "I wonder how this will go," Ash thought out loud seeing the two opposing pokemon preparing to battle one another, the buzzer went and the battle got underway.

"Roserade, start things off with Sunny Day," Salvia called for the first round of attacks, the sun's rays started to shine brightly in the while Beedrill charged towards the grass type pokemon without hesitation.

"Use Twin Needle," The woman instructed her pokemon, just as Roserade was about to dodge the attacks, the grass type was hit by two powerful bug type attacks, knocking it back causing Salvia to lose a chunk of her points, "don't give her a chance to counter, use Poison Jab," the opposing coordinator instructed her pokemon.

"Come on Salvia, you can do it!" Ash yelled out trying to get Salvia back into the battle.

"Dodge the attack, then use Weather Ball," Salvia commanded her pokemon with great confidence, Roserade jumped back from the Poinson Jab causing the opposing trainer to lose some of her points, a ball of fire formed at the ends of the hands of Roserade before sending it towards the poison bee pokemon.

"Wow what power coming from Roserade," the MC decreed as the judges called to an for the battle, "it seems like Salvia has won her way into the last battle," the MC stated while the crowd cheered loudly, Salvia recalled her pokemon and walked up to the opponent and extended her hand out to her.

"Not bad, you are a strong trainer," Salvia commented with a smile, but the woman slapped her hand away, "hey, I was trying to be a sportsman here," Salvia commented with anger before turning away to walk back towards the main hall.

The princess looked ahead to see the same figure standing at the end of the hall way, Salvia grasped her head and winced in pain, "dad, is that you?" Salvia asked again, but as she looked up again the apparition vanished, she looked around wondering what was going on, the halls seemed darker than usual, but maybe that was because of the fact that something was haunting her, whatever it was, it seems to keep following her, "I remember everything, but who am I as a person? Did I fail everyone?" Salvia continued to ask herself while taking the lonely walk towards the contest lounge, she opened the door and looked back to see her father's apparition standing in the hallway again this time with a proud smile, 'why is my dad's spirit following me?'

Ash walked in to the contest lounge only a few people remained, but it was still lively, Ash walked up to the princess and sat down next to her, "you know, the way you battled was really good," Ash complimented his wife calmly, Ash turned his attention to the crying Salvia who was starting to feel confused but the recent events that were taking place, 'oh man, I want to make her happy, but I have no idea what is bugging her,' Ash thought wondering what was going through her mind, normally he could read her thoughts but something seem to be blocking that ability, it was making him think about how much he could really do to look after the bluenette.

Serena walked up to the duo and extended her hand out, "hey good luck in out battle Salvia," Serena gently stated, the princess shook the hand of her opponent, the blonde closed her eyes and started to think about what was going on, 'okay, I sense a darkness, I can see terrible events, maybe there is something haunting her,' Serena thought as she let go of her rival's hand, "I will see you out there," Serena said quietly as she rushed out towards the battlefield. Sweat started pouring from her face, her hands were trembling, 'I can sense she is suffering, is she reliving the past every day, is that what haunts her the most?' Serena kept questioning herself as she tried to regain her composure, wanting to focus on the battle at hand.

Ash wondered what was going on, 'that's right, Serena has the same ability as me, but she is better than me at it, I guess she has trained more over the years,' Ash thought while thinking about the times the two competed against one another to see who had the better aura abilities, 'I was always the one to be destined to be the Aura Guardian, yet I cannot protect the one I love,' Ash reminded himself, clenching his fists frustrated at the current developments that appeared in front of him, he wasn't sure how to deal with his wife's change in personality.

"I am going to battle," Salvia reminded Ash, she got up and slowly walked to the door, she opened it and saw her father again, 'just why am I seeing my father?' Salvia asked herself with sorrow, she walked slowly through the hall as memories of the journey with Ash filled her mind, the voices of the past echoed in her mind, her thoughts were being drowned out by the memories, it was becoming apparent to herself that the sadness was catching up to her, the pressure of facing parenthood was also hanging over her like a spectre, 'why do I feel so weak?' Salvia continued to ask, growing frustrated by the past events.

Eventually the princess made it to the main stage ready to face Serena for the battle, Serena looked on with concern for the princess, "I can sense it, but I am not one hundred percent certain about the extent, I will find out in this battle," Serena told herself, noticing that Salvia's eyes were darkened again.

Ash and Madeline sat down to watch the battle, seeing the two girls ready to face off in the final round the crowd grew anxious, "come on you can win this!" Madeline yelled out in support of the princess.

Meanwhile at Petalburg City May and Drew were sitting in front of the television set watching the contest from the comfort of their own home, "so Drew who do you think will win?" May asked her boyfriend with a warm smile.

"Tough to say, both are really good in their own right," Drew replied with a smirk, "maybe that cute girl from the Kalos region," Drew joked before being pushed off the seat by May, 'geez I was only joking,' Drew thought in pain as he rubbed his bottom after landing hard on the ground.

"If you say anything like that again, then that cute girl is all yours, for all you know I might chase after Ash," May replied in a cheeky tone.

"I was only joking," Drew remarked as he slowly made it back to the seat.

"I think the princess might win this battle, but there is something wrong about this, usually it is Ash that can see a person aura, but I can see Salvia's aura is dark, something must be wrong," May explained while the battle got underway, "Drew, I think we need to help our friend out, we should compete in the contests," May explained quietly as Serena got the upper hand early in the battle against the princess.

"Yeah after we watch this battle, we should help Ash out, after all he is going to be a father soon," Drew remarked wisely, he witness Salvia getting her back against the wall, she seemed uncertain about what to do, hesitating to issue an instruction to her pokemon, "she is hesitating, that's not like her," Drew declared while getting out of his seat to pack his stuff, "we are going to help now," Drew acknowledged as he left the room with May to watch the battle against Salvia and Serena.

Back at the battlefield Salvia was struggling to come up with a plan, but was looking at the ground uncertain of what to do next, Serena shook her head wondering what to do next, "come on princess, I told you to use poison type moves a Sludge Bomb or something," Serena called over to the hesitating royal.

Ash looked in shock noticing that Serena hadn't lost any points in the battle, Salvia was almost out of points with a quarter of her points remaining the crowd started to grow impatient with the royals lack of motivation, "Salvia come on, what's going on?" Ash yelled out pleading with Salvia to do something in the battle against his friend.

"Sludge Bomb," Salvia called out for the attack.

Serena started to smile, but was still weary of the problem that was coming up with the royal, 'Gardevoir, normally I would hate doing this, but please don't dodge this attack,' Serena told her pokemon through her thoughts, the psychic type pokemon nodded and took the attack wiping away parts of Serena's points in the battle, the embrace pokemon fall to the ground after the powerful hit.

"Wow Gardevoir, took some serious damage," The MC stated with a shocked tone.

Serena pointed to the psychic type pokemon, "you see Salvia, poison type moves can deal a lot of damage to fairy type pokemon, so that move was super effective against my Gardevoir," Serena explained while trying to bring the princess back into the battle, "may I suggest you do something, you're running out of time," Serena pointed over to the main screen as the final minute of the battle ticked on.

"She doesn't have much longer," Madeline stated with concern seeing the seconds ticking down.

"Use Sunny Day," Salvia instructed her grass type pokemon.

Serena smiled after seeing Salvia finally get into the swing of things, "but time is your enemy," Serena told the bluenette with a shocked expression.

Salvia looked up with a dark expression, "everyone is in my way, even you and Ash," Salvia replied with an angered expression, "use Weather Ball now!" Salvia instructed her pokemon.

Ash watched in horror as his wife's words echoed in his mind, 'am I really getting in the way?' Ash watched while the fiery ball cannoned into the embrace pokemon, the fairy type fell to the ground after taking a powerful attack.

"Don't stop there, use Petal Dance," Salvia instructed her pokemon maliciously.

'As I thought, it is like she is reliving the events of the past, her father must have been murdered right in front of her, she feels like she let him down, then,' Serena thought to herself as time seemed to have slowed down, she glanced over to Ash and closed her eyes, ' so Ash's mother was killed, how horrible, I really liked Delia,' Serena thought as she turned her attention back to the battle, the time picked up and her pokemon was taken out of the battle, 'both of them have been through so much, and it seems that the princess has been traumatised by events beyond her control, she feels like she is useless, even to Ash,' Serena explained to herself as she recalled her fallen pokemon from the battle.

Salvia panting and glaring at the woman angrily, "I won, even though you had the advantage," Salvia pointed out while recalling her pokemon from the battle.

After receiving her ribbon Ash was called over to Serena again, "Ash, I have made a few observations from that battle with your wife," Serena claimed while Ash looked away with shame.

"Again with your abilities with aura, how is it that I am a guardian and you're not?" Ash questioned the young woman with a frown.

Serena shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I refused it, so you automatically gain that ability," Serena replied to her friend with a smile.

"Why did you refuse it? I am failing even my wife, I don't know what is going anymore," Ash replied with a solemn expression.

Serena placed her right hand on the prince's left shoulder and smiled, "she is suffering from her past, nightmares that seem to have been building from her childhood," Serena explained while Ash listened with a surprised expression, "when I shook her hand, I could feel the agony she was suffering from, even the pain she had after her father's death, then to your mother's death," Serena stated while Ash clenched his fists in anger, he started to well up with tears knowing that his friend was right about the problems that have been happening.

"I failed my mother Serena and I don't know how to repair Salvia's past," Ash replied, he turned around and punched the wall causing a small hole where his fist landed, Ash pulled back and punched the wall with his other fist, "what do I do?!" Ash yelled out in anger as the frustration of his own failures began to build, "I trained hard to protect her! I want to see her smile with the same brightness in her eyes! And yet after all this journey I find myself still weak!" Ash yelled at his friend who was trying to take it, but was having a hard time holding back her tears.

"You have friends who will help you, no matter what, so please hold on my friend," Serena instructed Ash before taking her hand away from Ash's shoulder, she turned around and started walking down the hall, "the pokemon I gave you Ash is a Tyrunt, it is a fossil pokemon native to the Kalos region, please take good care of it," Serena instructed Ash with a soft smile.

Ash stared at the red and white device and held on to it tightly, "thanks Serena, I will do what I can to save Salvia," Ash stated while turning around to see Madeline approaching him, "Madeline, where is Salvia?" Ash asked his adopted daughter quietly.

Madeline panting and sweating ran up to Ash, she placed her hands on her knees and looked up, "she is asleep, she will not wake up, no matter how much I try," Madeline panicked, she grabbed Ash's arm and led him to the Pokemon Center where they were spending the night.

'I was going to say take me to her, but I guess I knew that already,' Ash thought while trying to think of a way to help his wife.

_(Nearing Mauvile)_

Brendan was walking around the city with a few guards from Chris, he noticed a familiar face but with a person that looked like his cousin, "Salvia and Alex, what are you two doing here, and where is Ash?" Brendan asked the duo in shock.

"I am not Lady Salvia, I am Sir Ash's and Lady Salvia's new royal guard," the young woman replied confidently, "my name is Dawn Berlitz, from the Sinnoh region," Dawn introduced herself to the prince of Hoenn.

"Alex, what's going on in Slateport City?" Brendan asked with a hopeful smile.

"It's too quiet, but we need to get to Lady Salvia and Sir Ash immediately," Alex instructed the Hoenn royal brazenly, "my brother is on his way, but he is still five days away," Alex explained the situation to Brendan about Colin.

"She is in Verdanturf Town competing in the contest," Brendan replied quietly.

Dawn walked pass the guards and nodded at Alex, "I will take it from here, you two finish the task," Dawn instructed the two men, she walked into the busy city and started to think about the two people that she was assigned to look after, 'Ash, Salvia, I will be there soon,' Dawn thought as she walked through the middle of the city, wondering what to do to save her friends, 'no matter what the result is, I will be around Ash,' Dawn reminded herself while clenching her fists and the memories of Ash flooding her mind, Piplup looked at his trainer who was determined to fulfil the task set for her, he grew concerned about Dawn's behaviour, 'no matter what Ash, even if you have Salvia, I will always love you,' Dawn told herself, her smile broad and her confidence restored, "I will make sure my friends are safe!" Dawn yelled out with great determination.

* * *

**The players are readying themselves for the next part of the play, Ash finds out the extent of Salvia's problem, but the solution will not come as easily as he would hope, at what cost will Ash find the solution? And how long will it take to bring Salvia back.**

**The Nightmare mini-series begins next time episode 70: Dark Depths**

_Hope you're liking this, the nightmare series will take some time to complete and the good news is, I have finished the three part conclusion, it is called the end of nightmares trilogy, hope you enjoy what looks like a new dark twist in this saga. Please review and request what you would like to see in this mini-series._


	8. Dark Depths

**Episode 70: Dark Depths.**

_Welcome to the nightmare series, a series that will hopefully provide questions and provide Ash and Salvia their greatest trial, themselves. This saga is purely an experiment, I want to see how it will be received by you as the reader, so please leave a review. This series will have a darker feel but will also have a fair bit of action as well, please enjoy._

_**Main Protagonists:**_

_Ash, Salvia*, Madeline, Colin, Alex, Dawn, May, Drew, Brendan, Serena._

_**Main Antagonists:**_

_Chris, the Queen of Hoenn, Giovanni, Team Rocket, Ghetsis, Team Plasma, Salvia*._

_*= Salvia will be playing both roles in this mini-series. Her goals will be independent to the other main antagonists of this mini-series._

* * *

Rushing to his wife's side Ash knelt down to see what was happening to the bluenette who was resting peacefully on the bed, he tried to wake her but didn't want to use his electric pokemon's full ability on her, plus the fact that he wasn't wanting to, the people in the main foyer were making plenty of noise, but the noise wasn't waking her up, Ash noticed beads of sweat flowing from her as she began to twitched around muttering words that were too difficult to make out, Ash looked around to see Madeline standing at the door way, he shook his head not understanding what was happing himself, he sighed feeling like he was a complete failure, with the words of his friend echoing through his mind, "how can I save her, Serena never gave me an answer," Ash reminded himself while grasping his wife's hand.

Madeline watched Ash getting to his feet, turning around with a concerned expression, "so what are we going to do?" Madeline asked the prince.

Ash shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea, but I cannot give up on her," Ash replied with his gaze firmly fixed on the young woman.

Ash and Madeline walked towards the main foyer with Raichu by their side, "let her rest," Madeline suggested coolly. Ash looked back at the closed room with an air of concern, he knew Salvia was a gentle soul, but felt like her character had changed since her father died.

Meanwhile in the room Salvia continued to sleep suffering again, words from her past resonated in her mind, 'look who it is, the princess who is too kind for her own good,' one of the words reverberated in the royal's mind.

'Hello I am Princess Salvia, nice to meet you,' the princess replied as the children started to laugh at her.

_(Flashback)_

"Oh man if she is the princess of Sinnoh, we are in a lot of trouble," one of the male students remarked while not noticing the princess standing behind the wall.

'Am I really that weak? Am I too kind?' Salvia asked herself while thinking about what the students stated behind her back.

"Yeah the day she becomes queen of the region, I will make sure in am not in this region, she will most likely never get someone to fall in love with her, because they will think she is a doormat to everyone," the female student stated while Salvia fell to the ground with tears rolling down her face.

Hearing the constant teasing of the children, Salvia got to her feet and ran away from the school ground, ignoring the ridicule of the people that surrounded her, the much younger princess wanted to block out all the mocking of the students in the school, 'please leave me alone,' Salvia tried to plead but she couldn't say anything as the people were too loud.

_(return from flashback)_

"Oh what's the matter?" a female voice called out to the royal.

Salvia looked around in the dark place trying to find the origins of the voice, "who are you? Where are you? Show yourself," Salvia demanded. Fear coursed through the body of the princess, sweat started to flow down her face, as she looked around she spotted her younger self huddled up in her room, 'that's me,' Salvia thought as she approached the bed.

"Why didn't stand up for yourself? Instead of running away," the little girl asked venomously.

Salvia leapt back as she gasped at the black eyes of the girl, "all the trauma you suffered over the years, all the mocking, even the one you love mocks you," the little girl said while approaching the older version of herself.

"No stop it, please," Salvia requested softly.

The little girl continued to approach the woman who was now huddling up. Fearing more torment from her, "I guess those kids were right, you really are weak, you can't even stand up to me," the little girl said.

"I got stronger thanks to Ash, Madeline and all his friends, especially Ash," Salvia replied while staring into the dark, emotionless eyes of her younger self.

"No you hid behind them when things got too tough for you, you did it when you were a kid and you continue to do it now," the younger girl said with a malicious grin.

The little girl disappeared and taking her place was a person who looked exactly like her, "my younger self is right, you need to stand up for yourself," she stated while Salvia cuddled up to her legs hoping that Ash was going to help her, "oh come on, you aren't that weak, you need us for strength," she said while extending her hand out to the princess.

"No I need Ash," Salvia struggled to reply, but her doubt started to creep in.

"You can still have him, but why not make everything that hurts you disappear, his friends especially the one that looks like you," the dark version of Salvia explained, Salvia looked up and started to take in what was being told of her, "I mean he should be yours and yours alone, no one else should be in the way," the lady stated while opening up her hand.

"But those people are my friends too," Salvia argued back.

"And how many of them want Ash? Misty, May, Serena, Iris and then there is Dawn especially her," the darker Salvia replied with a malevolent smirk.

The princess looked to the ground and slowly moved her hand up to her nightmare image, "what do I do? I don't want to get rid of my friends," the princess asked, hesitating as she moved her hand up to the lady.

"You have to remember, you're going to be the mother of Ash's child, you don't want any of them getting in the way of your family," the dark princess replied with a smile.

Salvia grasped the hand of her darker self and nodded, "alright, I will do as you say, but we aren't allowed to hurt Ash," Salvia replied while shaking hands.

Not noticing the dark grin on the person in front of her Salvia turned around to wake up, 'perfect, she will be following her nightmares, how unfortunate for her, once it is all said and done, she will be all alone, no one not even her friends and most certainly not Ash,' the malicious dream told itself while thinking about the dark pokemon that was under the command of Ash, 'but we need to find a way of separating Ash and Darkrai.'

Salvia woke up and looked towards the ceiling, she started to think about everything that has happened, she raised her right hand and pictured her friends from each of the regions, it was then she remembered Dawn, "so she wants Ash for herself, he belongs to me," Salvia said while clenching her fist in anger crushing the image of Dawn. Salvia looked at the door and thought about her plans to rid Ash of his friends, "Ash is mine and mine alone," Salvia hissed while sitting up, she looked around the room and started to think more about her journey, 'I will erase the things that caused me pain,' the princess told herself as she stood up, walking to the door, placing her hand over the door knob, turning it around the princess started to feel the chill of loneliness, it hung over her like a dark cloud, but it didn't stop her from the dark thoughts in her mind.

Sitting at the table finishing their meals Ash got up and picked up a plate, "Madeline, I am going to get Salvia some food, stay her with Raichu and Pignite," Ash instructed the black haired girl quietly, he walked to the self-service and picked up some of Salvia's favourite foods, 'she has always been the healthy eater, so I better pick some healthy stuff up,' Ash acknowledged as he remembered the meals that Salvia cooked for him on their journey.

Ash slowly walked to the room with the plate of food, as he started to move his hand to the door, Salvia opened it and looked down silently at the plate, snatching the plate she turned around and closed the door leaving Ash perplexed with the sudden change in the royal, "she has never done that before," Ash whispered to himself still unable to believe the rudeness of the princess, 'I mean, she would have at least said thank you,' Ash thought while picturing the dark eyes of the royal, Ash turned around to walk towards the main foyer, shaking his head, scratching the back of it wondering what in the world changed his wife, "I know her attitude towards things have changed, but that is nothing like her true self," Ash commented with great confusion.

Ash remembered the polite young woman that would eat with perfect manners, "her perfect table manners have been rubbing off on me, even Madeline has been picking it up, she was training me and didn't realise it," Ash whispered to his partner pokemon, his concern continued to build, a feeling started to fill his mind, he began to shiver, hearing Salvia talking to herself in the room, 'just who is she talking to?' Ash asked.

'It seems that there is a problem Master Ash,' Darkrai's voice echoed in the trainer's mind.

'It has been a while Darkrai, what do you mean?' Ash wondered as he entered his subconscious.

'I can sense something dark Ash, a nightmare, but I have no power over this, this could be a personal problem,' Darkrai replied with a serious tone.

Ash wondered what to do, he wasn't certain as to how he was going to save his wife, 'so Darkrai, what should I do?' Ash asked his legendary pokemon.

'I don't know Master Ash, but you might need all your friends to help you, do you mind if I head out in order to search for Mewtwo? I have a feeling Chris is about to cause some havoc,' Darkrai acknowledged the growing situation with the princess' uncle.

'Of course, it would be great if we can stop him, you deal with that, I will sort out the problem with my wife, after all it is my duty to make sure she is alright,' Ash replied to the pitch-black pokemon's request.

Ash remembered the kind gentle person she once was, he continued to hope that one day she would be back to her normal self, 'I know what you're think friend, but how do you propose in trying to save her and your unborn child?' Reshiram asked curiously as he entered the trainer's subconscious.

Ash looked away and spotted the gold ring on his left ring finger, "whatever it takes, that's my duty to Salvia," Ash replied with growing confidence, "even if it gets me killed," Ash declared while his two legendary pokemon looked at one another and nodded, 'I still need the help of my friends,' Ash admitted to himself while thinking about how much stronger Salvia had gotten since they started their journey together.

It was when they reached the Hoenn region when her personality became more venomous, it was like she wasn't herself anymore, Ash tried to think about what triggered such a change, he knew the death of her father was the answer, but also felt that there was more to the transformation, "you know buddy, I feel that harsh reality of this world is what is hurting her most, maybe it's my fault," Ash explained the situation to his partner pokemon, he walked towards the exit of the Pokemon Center with Madeline watching from a distance.

"What's happening, Ash seems less personable lately, hey Pignite what do you think the problem is?" Madeline asked her pokemon with even more concern, she walked over towards the room and tried to get an answer from her foster mother, 'I know she is old enough to be my older sister, but I still look up to her like she is my mother,' Madeline thought while looking at the pendant given to her by her real parents.

Madeline walked and heard the princess talking in her room, she rested on the wall and listened with intent, "so, after I deal with Dawn, then I will focus on May, then Misty and Iris, then there is Serena who is the biggest threat of them all, I will eliminate all of Ash's friends," Salvia told herself while Madeline was shocked at what she had heard, she fell to the ground gulping at the words that she had heard, she got back up and ran to Ash, not looking back as to what was happening, 'no Salvia, she isn't like that, she would never aim to destroy Ash's friends,' Madeline continued to remind herself with a fearful expression, "Ash!" Madeline called out to the prince.

Ash turned around to see tears streaming down Madeline, "Madeline, what's the matter?" Ash asked with great concern.

"It's the princess, she isn't herself, she was talking to herself and plans to take care of your friends," Madeline stated while hugging the prince.

"What do you mean take care of them?" Ash asked with a bad feeling in his mind and heart.

Madeline pulled back and slide her thumb across her throat, "that way Ash," Madeline replied much to the horror of the prince, he felt his knees give way after finding out what was going on, he never expected Salvia to have fallen this far, Ash felt a cold chill run down his spine, he didn't want to believe Madeline, but knew full well that she was always an honest person.

Ash grabbed some of the grass and punched the ground in anger, "why have I failed? All I wanted to do was show her the world, and yet I was the one who caused her the most pain," Ash explained while hitting the ground until his hands bleed.

_(In Mauvile City)_

"You mean to tell me that you're the princess' cousin?" Dawn asked in surprise, the prince of Hoenn nodded and thought about the time his mother was talking to Bryan.

"Yes, and Salvia was unaware of this truth, she had a sheltered life, to make it worse, the king of Sinnoh knew little and the same could be said for the queen, I only found out when I overheard my father's death, he confessed everything, even to the fact that my mother and sister were separated when they we just born," Brendon explained everything much to Dawn's horror.

"What if Salvia finds out this information?" Dawn questioned the prince.

"She is on thin ice at the moment lady Dawn, it would be best if she knew nothing at this stage, first Ash must find a way to save her," Brendon replied to Dawn's enquiry, he led them to the end of the city and thought about the situation that was brewing, "Lady Dawn, I sense there is a storm approaching, if I am right Prince Ash will need your help," Brendon stated with a frown, "also please say nothing to Salvia, this information must be kept top secret for now," Brendon stated while leaving the bluenette to her road ahead.

"You have my word, I know I am putting myself in danger, but I must do it to keep the ones precious to me safe," Dawn replied while starting her journey towards the small town.

Brendon turned his attention to Alex, "where are you going?" Brendon asked the royal guard.

Alex smiled and thought about the future that was being presented, "even at the end of the Hoenn kingdom's days, you still want to help," Alex stated while calling out his Rapidash, "I am going to greet my brother in Lilycove City, I trust that everything will be fine with you," Alex stated while jumping onto the fire horse pokemon, he rode off towards the distance to prepare for a battle against the person he sworn to protect, 'King Brian, I am still at your service, I will do what I can to protect Ash and Salvia, but for now, I will continue to place my trust in Prince Ash,' Alex thought while remembering the words he had heard from the queen of Hoenn.

_(Near Oldale Town)_

May seething in anger "Hurry up Drew, our friends are in danger and I will be damned if I sit back and wait for something to happen," May yelled out to her boyfriend, she felt the wind pick up causing her to shiver in fear, 'just what is happening? I feel this darkness creeping closer,' May thought while looking back to see the green haired coordinator dawdling towards the brunette.

"May, we have plenty of time, it isn't like there is any immediate danger," Drew commented before his right ear was grabbed by May who was seething at the comments of Drew, "ouch come on May, we need to preserve our energy," Drew complained while a sudden jolt of pain pulsed through his body.

"I don't care, my friends are in danger and I refuse to sit back!" May yelled into Drew's ear.

As the pokemon ran in fear of May's anger, Drew hit the ground holding his ear, he could hear the ringing inside his ear, "I don't think I will be able to hear again if this continues," Drew commented while May smirked and started talking, "May I cannot hear you, can you please write down what you just said?" Drew requested.

May Grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a message down, "um May, I don't think that would a good idea, I mean," Drew started while May started to write again, 'great now she is threating me, I guess her friends are really that important,' Drew thought as he read the offensive message, "alright, we will rush to our friends," Drew submitted while trying to get his hearing back to normal.

"Much better," May replied with a satisfied smile.

"I still can't hear," Drew replied with a frown.

"Opps sorry Drew," May replied as she watched Drew pointing to his ears, 'he seems to be a little angry at me,' May thought, but this dark feeling didn't change, she knew something was wrong but couldn't explain the problem.

The two walked to the exit of the small town to the north and spotted a small boat, they hopped on and started their journey across, the two grew more nervous knowing that Salvia could be the foe that they face, "do you think Ash and Salvia will be fine? I mean she didn't look too happy when she was competing," Drew asked the brunette as calmly as possible.

"Don't know Drew," May complied with concern, "row faster," May demanded with a smirk.

"It would help if you rowed too," Drew remarked under his breath.

_(On a ship towards the Hoenn Region)_

"I know Axew, I hope we can get there on time, I have a feeling that we are going to need to help our friends," Iris told her dragon type pokemon with concern, she looked up to see the major city in the background, the dragon trainer knew that everything was going to be troublesome, but it didn't stop her from making the choice of going to Hoenn to help her friends, 'I know this may be difficult for Cilan, but I doubt he would want me to leave a friend behind even one such as Ash, he is still a kid in my view, but I still sense danger," Iris stated while looking up to see a pokemon standing at the top of the tallest building in the city, "Mewtwo," Iris said under her breath as she turned her attention back to the city.

Hilda and Hilbert walked towards the dragon trainer, "so this is Hoenn, we need to think about making sure the Unova Kingdom isn't involved as well," Hilbert told his fiancé, he walked to the front of the ship and thought about the war that consumed the Unova kingdom, "we cannot allow for it to happen again," Hilbert stated while glaring towards the distance.

"Yes Hilbert I agree, we have been on this ship for three days, I am getting more and more seasick each day," Hilda complained while trying to hold her vomit back, "excuse me," Hilda said before placing her head over the railings.

"Oh she still gets seasick to this day," Hilbert sighed with disdain, he placed his hand over his head to hide the disappointment of Hilda's act, "we're almost there, we will dock in ten minutes and Hilda please try to bring some composure back," Hilbert requested with a slight tone of humiliation.

"I sorry Hilbert, but I hate sea travel," Hilda replied while putting her head the railings.

"Hey watch out!" One of the male passengers yelled out in disgust.

"These two are bigger kids than Ash," Iris whispered to her partner pokemon with a slight look of contempt, "and these two are going to be the king and queen of Unova, great we are in deep trouble," Iris continued while the sea breeze caused her hair to whip around, she placed her hand over her left ear and held her hair back, she watched the ship moving closer to land.

_(Back at Verdanturf Town)_

Ash walked back in the Pokemon Center with an uneasy feeling washing down on him, he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't explain it himself, the people inside were unaware of what seemed like a dangerous situation building, 'I don't get it, why does it seem like something bad is going to happen?' the prince asked himself while looking around the main foyer, walking slowly to think about the recent behaviour of his young wife, 'she won the contest and yet she still doesn't seem happy, I think I will try to talk to her,' Ash told himself.

Ash walked towards the hallway, but as he entered he was pushed back by a powerful explosion, he landed awkwardly and fell to the ground writhing in pain, he grabbed his left knee crying out in agony as a sharp pain pulsed through his body, Ash opened his eyes to see Salvia seething in anger, "I will not wait any longer," she stated while running off with the people stared in shock, fear had struck them.

Ash tried to get back up but fell back down, "Salvia wait, let me talk to you," Ash called over to his wife, he placed his hand on the main desk and pushed himself back up, he couldn't move his left knee, he hopped towards the angered woman with a gentle smile, "come my love, let me talk to you, I will listen, I promise," Ash assured his young wife. He tried to approach her but Salvia stepped back.

"No, I will destroy all the people you hold dear to you Ash," Salvia said with a dark smirk before exiting the medical facility.

Ash made one more lunge to grab his wife's hand but only made it just a few feet away from her, "no my wife," Ash cried while seeing her running off, "Salvia!" Ash called over before slipping away into unconsciousness.

Ash's foster daughter approached the unconscious trainer as the police started to exit the building, "guys, arrest the young lady," the officer ordered while Madeline tried to wake her adoptive father up.

"No please don't arrest her, we can help," Madeline said while looking around to survey the damage that was caused, "please, no harm must come to her, I don't want to lose her," Madeline cried while trying to place Ash's arm around her shoulder, "don't worry, I will get you to the hospital," Madeline whispered while falling over under the weight of her foster father.

"Call an ambulance this guy needs medical help," the officer decreed while walking out of the facility, she looked over to the little girl, "you have one month to find her and save her, if she puts any more people in danger, I will put the order for shoot on sight, do you understand, tell that young man that message as well," the officer told the young girl much to her sadness.

"No, please don't do that, I will beg for it, anything but that," Madeline cried as she placed her hands on the ground with tears streaming down her face, "don't kill my adoptive mother, she is the last piece of family I have left," Madeline continued to cry as the ambulance appeared in front of the Pokemon Center.

The police officer ignored the plea knowing full well that he had to do his job to protect the people of the region, "Please don't kill the princess," another voice echoed through the airs, Dawn had arrived on the scene only to see Ash being stretched into the ambulance, "she might look like me, but I know full well that she is in pain, those two can help her and so can I," Dawn told the police officer.

"Fine, I will revoke the shoot to kill order, but if she hurts any more people, you and that young man will be held responsible," the officer replied before walking away from the medical facility.

Dawn rushed to Ash's side to see if he was alright, "Ash, what happened to you?" Dawn asked while looking up to the doctor with concern etched on her face.

"I am afraid he has suffered a knee injury, we will be taking him to Mauvile City for further scans on his knee," the doctor replied while Dawn sat down next to Ash.

"I am coming too," Madeline decreed while climbing in before the door closed.

The ambulance rode off with the prince and his two other companions next to him, Dawn looked at her friend with concern etched on her face, 'Ash, I promise to help Salvia for you, just rest up my love, I will see her and you smile,' Dawn thought with the vehicle speeding off into the distance.

Outside the small town Salvia looked down with a smirk, "this is just the beginning, everything will change, Ash will feel the same pain as me," Salvia said as tears started to stream down her face, but a broad smile went from ear to ear.

_(At the Sinnoh Palace)_

Salvia's mother still mourning for the loss of her husband picked up a photo frame and looked at the family portrait, "how I miss my daughter, I hope she is filling her memories with all the happiness she seeks," Salvia's mother said as the glass on the frame started to crack, it was then an uneasy feeling filled the queen's heart, she knew that something was, but couldn't explained it, but she knew something was happing far away, "My daughter, please be alright," the queen said as she ran out the door to see the night sky, "I feel that she is in Hoenn, guards we are going to the Hoenn region." The queen declared as she looked back with the same sense of adventure as her daughter, 'it will be the first time I have visitied Hoenn with my pokemon in fifteen years,' the queen thought to herself as she walked back into the palace with hopes of seeing her young daughter.

"Ma'am, we will start preparations immediately," one of the guards dictated calmly

* * *

**Darkness has filled the princess' heart, the queen is on her way, and Ash is severely injured due to the rage of Salvia.**

**Will Ash recover from his injury? And what implications does this mean between Ash and Salvia?**

**Next time episode 71: Shattered Dreams**


End file.
